Edge of Life
by Gammabeta99
Summary: AU. What if when Jaune was a child his home was destroyed? What would become of the child then? What if he was left to fend for himself? Having no one to care for him, would he become the savior he was meant to be? Or would he be one of the worst men to ever wander Remnant? This is a story of Jaune Arc, the hero turned villain, turned regretful survivor and finally turned savior.
1. The Beginning

Edge of Life

Chapter One

The Beginning

Jaune Arc was a happy young boy at the age of eight; he had a loving mother and father, and plenty of sisters to play with. Life was good for the Arc family.

Jaune's parents used to be hunters, the protectors of mankind against creatures of Grimm. But that just made them heroes in Jaune's eyes, and what eight-year old wouldn't want a hero for a parent? Jaune was happy, life was simple and peaceful

That was, until the day of the eclipse. Today to be precise.

The day started out the same as any other day in the village of Dorme, children were playing, adults were going about their business, and all was well. Until about 1:00 in the afternoon when John Arc noticed that the sun was starting to be blocked out by the moon.

What is that? The retired hunter thought as he squinted to get a better look at the fading sunlight. _That almost looks like an…_ "ECLIPSE!" he yelled as it dawned on him, his shout directed to the towns people around him. "GET TO YOUR HOMES!"

Everyone knew that an eclipse meant only death and destruction will follow, it was when Grimm were at their strongest, and when humans were at a crippling disadvantage. The radiant warmth of the sun was torn away and the strength the Grimm seemed to multiply greatly.

People ran frantically towards their homes in hope to avoid the coming calamity, but it was two late, three monstrously sized Nevermores swooped in from above and started culling the villagers.

John quickly grabbed his family sword; Crocea Mors then went to fight the incoming monsters.

He fought the dark creatures with all his might, but as time drew on adrenaline began to fade. Crocea Mors felt like it was made of stone, the ancient blade becoming heavier in his calloused hands. But he did not falter; John Arc stood before his home and used all his skill as a hunter to protect his family inside. He spent nearly two hours protecting his home and family, butchering any Grimm foolish enough to come within range of his sword.

But it was not meant to be. As John was gutting an Ursa one of the Nevermores swooped in and tried to take a bite from John, but John was an experienced hunter and he deftly dodged the attack, what he didn't count on was the Nevermore flying straight through his house. John bolted into the ruined structure to try and find his family. What he found would haunt him forever, his beautiful wife, Jane Arc. Half crushed beneath a fallen support beam and one of his beloved daughters becoming a quick meal for the bestial Nevermore that caused this.

He would have given up right then and there had it not been for the terrified whimpers coming from behind some debris, with strength that only a father in need could provide John lifted the debris so see his only son Jaune curled up into a ball crying his eyes out, and Grimm be damned, John lifted the crying boy into his arms and made a mad sprint out of the house and away from the village.

But luck was not on his side that day. The other two avian Grimm saw the weary hunter trying to escape, and decided to make a meal of him. One of the dark birds made a swoop at John from his left, but the hunter jumped backwards and with his one free arm swung his sword down on the giant bird, the blow wasn't fatal to the Nevermore, but it did leave a large bleeding gash across its right eye, a cut that would likely scar the beast.

Jaune whimpered at the sight of the violence but otherwise stayed silent so his father could concentrate. The injured bird flew away from the hunter to recuperate, meanwhile, the other Nevermore brought its wings back to fire razor sharp feathers at John. His aura was depleted from all the fighting if such an attack hit him… it would not bode well.

The hunter was muttering soothing words to Jaune to try and keep him calm when he felt several sharp pains in his back pushing him to the ground and dropping Jaune.

John looked down and saw several black feather tips poking through the front of his chest. Black was slowly creeping into his vision, a siren's call for him for just let it all go. But John wouldn't give in, not yet. As he slowly started to drag himself to where Jaune had fallen he spoke his last to his son, "Be brave, son." And with a final gasping breath, John died. Leaving Jaune alone. Against 3 angry Nevermore and a small army of lesser Grimm.

* * *

A young man wearing a black hoodie and faded jungle camo cargo pants sat at a bar in a club slowly drinking a brownish looking concoction out of a small glass with a mostly empty bottle on the bar next to him. What's special about this young man? Well, the large sword strapped to his back might some indication. But the most striking thing about this man was the eye patch covering his right eye and the thick scar running from his jaw to his hairline only partially obscured by the eye patch. All this was covered over by his black hoodie, the terrible scars hidden under the shadows of the fabric.

Some might find the man's appearance slightly scary, but he was a regular at this club. Most people knew that unless you really pissed him off he won't hurt anyone.

He had many names, some recent, others he would give anything to forget. But before all of his other titles came the single name that burned the worst: Jaune Arc.

No one alive knew him by that name, the Arc family was considered to be a dead line. But most people know him by the name: Solus Superstes. If one were educated in the old Valean language one might realize that his name quite literally translates to Sole Survivor. But in the places that Solus frequents most people hardly understand common (English) let alone the old Valean words.

So Solus was just quietly drinking and speaking with the absolute bear of a man beside him, quiet words that were drowned out under the booming of the dreadful techno music that played throughout the club.

A tall blonde girl walked up behind the huge man who was talking to Solus and spoke to the nearby bartender. "Strawberry sunrise, no ice. Oh and one of those little umbrellas." without another word the bartender the blonde girl turned to the tall man that Solus had been speaking to, interrupting the ongoing conversation and totally ignoring Solus.

 _Rude..._

"Aren't you a little young to be in this club blondie?" The tall man asked, Although his tone made it clear he didn't really care.

"Heh, aren't you a little old to have a name like 'Junior'?" she asked back in a teasing manner.

"So you know who I am, you got a name sweetheart?" Junior replied, clearly taken in by the good looks of the girl.

The blonde slowly traced- a finger down Juniors suit as she said: "Yes Junior, I've got several," she paused for a moment, her purple eyes giving nothing away, "but instead of sweetheart you can just call me sir." She grabbed the tall man's groin and gave it an uncomfortable squeeze, Solus cringed at seeing this and hearing Juniors high pitched squeal.

 _Cruel..._

With her free hand blondie pulled out her scroll and waved it in front of Junior's face. "People say you know everything, tell me where to find her and I'll let you go."

Junior responded quickly in a higher pitch that would have previously been beyond him. "I've never seen her before I swear!"

Blondie tightened her grip slightly, her eye's hardening. "Excuse me?"

"I swear sir!" the poor man squealed.

Several men in black suits and red ties ran up. "Heh seems we have an audience, this must be kinda embarrassing for you huh? Awkward." Blondie said with a hint of humour, all previous traces of impatience gone.

"Listen, blondie - sir! - if you want to make it out of this club alive I suggest you let me go. Now!" the suit-clad man threatened, anger mounting.

Surprisingly enough the blond did actually let him go, much to Juniors relief. "You'll pay for that." he spat, his voice back to its normal pitch. He started to walk away, leaving his goons to finish it.

At least that what he tried to do, but blondie followed him and simpered "Oh Junior, I was just playing with you!" All the while batting her eyelashes invitingly. "Don't be so sensitive! Cmon let's kiss and make up ok?"

Junior… don't make even more of a fool of yourself… Solus thought silently as he watched things play out.

Junior, who was in the middle of the dance floor, took one look at the blonde's well-endowed chest then before nodding dumbly, drawn in by something he can never have. "Uhh ok..." he leaned in for the kiss. Aaaand... much to Solus's amusement and disappointment the huge man was punched all the way across the room back to the bar next to Solus. Much to Solus's displeasure, however, was the fact that when the dazed Junior hit the bar he knocked Solus's bottle over and poured it all over himself.

 _Heartless too..._

"Hey! I wasn't finished with that!" Solus complained, ignoring the fact that everyone besides himself and Juniors men was running in terror of seeing such a large man sent flying so far and through one of the decorative glass pillars that dotted the club.

Junior didn't really respond, just made a few mumbles that sounded vaguely like: "Did anyone catch the number of that bitch..."

When Solus looked back at blondie he saw an absolute beat down of all Juniors men, and it was an absolute beat down, the closest any of the poor sods got to actually hurting her was when one guy charged her with a sword only to get blocked by yellow gauntlet things she had over her forearms.

Right, well those idiots don't stand a chance, should I help them?... Nah, I'll just get the twins to deal with it Solus mused as he absently finished off whatever it was he was drinking. He reached down into Juniors pocket and grabbed the elder man's scroll, quickly filtered through the contacts, quickly saving a few for him to check out later because they looked interesting, then called one listed under 'Melanie M'.

"What do you want Junior?" Came the snarky tone on the other side of the line.

"Juniors fairly out of it, and some blonde bimbo just beat up all of the security, thought you might want to know." Solus snarked back in a surprisingly gravelly voice.

"WHAT!? Why aren't you helping?!" Came the less calm twin from somewhere in the background.

A small smirk played across the face of Solus, he may have had a little much to drink but he still liked messing with people. "Because no one is paying me to, my skills and power don't come free girl." And with that, he cut the line just in time to see the blonde girl looking at him oddly.

Yang, on the other hand, was looking at the only patron still in the club, she could only see half his face because he was wearing a hood. From what she could see he showed absolutely no discomfort at the fact that she just wiped the floor with 20 armed guys, granted she was sweating like a pig under the hot club lighting, so she probably didn't look terribly intimidating. But she just beat up 20 guys single-handedly, surely that would inspire some fear, right?

But her attention was soon diverted when two girls in dresses walked into the bar, and both of them looked mighty pissed off.

Around this time Junior came back to his senses and oh boy, was he angry. "You!" He barked pointing at Solus. "Why aren't you helping us beat that bitch?!"

Solus gave him an icy look, one that conveyed how little Solus thought of the information broker. "I'm a mercenary you moron, I don't do things for free."

"Hmpf! Fine! I'll deal with this myself!" Junior then reached over the bar and pulled out a large rocket launcher and started to walk off to fight the blonde menace, just in time to see Melanie get nailed in the face with a spin kick to the face that knocked her lights out.

"Your gonna pay for this." Junior sneered confidently to the blonde girl. She just grinned and raised her hands defiantly.

Junior took aim and fired in less than 2 seconds, 5 rockets sped off to the blonde fist fighter. But she just leapt away, leaving the rockets to explode harmlessly on the ground, Junior fired once again, but instead of dodging, the blonde shot the explosives out of the air with her shotgun gauntlets.

Seeing his moment, Junior shifted his gun into a huge bat and jumped in and cracked blondie across the head, and she was unable to block the next 3 strikes that hit her in the face and stomach but by the end of it she was hunched over, when she tried to lift herself, all she saw was the bat flying for her face. When it hit her she was sent soaring backwards through a glass table, but it seemed her aura had taken most of the damage for her; moments later she stood and a large grin adorned her face.

Less than a second later she was upon the man, delivering savage blows that his aura could hardly protect him from.

Melanie, who had just dragged her unconscious sister to where Solus was looked at the scarred man in slight anger. "Why aren't you helping him?" she said pointing to the club owner who was getting the beating of his life.

Solus smirked as he snatched a drink from behind the bar, it seemed it was his lucky day. "Can't you see he has to fight this battle on his own? He's fighting for the honour of his fallen comrades." Solus gestured vaguely to the beaten thugs on the ground, he was far more interested in stealing from behind the bar than to bother with people that wouldn't pay him.

"Help me! - for the love of god - help me!" Junior screamed between getting punched.

"Like a true hero..." Solus finished as he took a deep drink from stolen whiskey.

Melanie just gave solus a weird look as if to say 'are you serious?'

Solus turned back to the fight just in time to see the bloody and bruised face of Junior take one more hit. He tried to block it with his bat, but it snapped in half in the huge man's hand, and in large man's other hand was a few strands of blondies hair. And oh boy, did she looked pissed.

 _Did her eyes just flash red for a second?_

With a look of fear on Juniors face at the sight of the blonde's growing rage, the big man screamed out: "Fine I'll pay you! Just help me!"

 _That's more like it._

Solus jumped into action, leaping from the bar and performing a ruthless kick at the girl as she was charging junior with red eyes. Blondie got up off the ground a few feet away, clutching her side in pain, red eyes blazing in fury. "I suggest you back down girly, this isn't a fight you can win." Solus hissed with menace in his voice.

"Bring it on!" she snarled, not at all afraid of the hooded man.

 _And suffering will be your teacher…_

Damn, he really needed to stop drinking. It made him all nostalgic.

Solus charged the other blonde. He nailed her straight in the face with a powerful punch that she was unable to block in time. Her head snapped backwards, but she quickly came back at him with a strong punch to the gut then an uppercut to the jaw. Knocking his hood down. She would have continued her assault had she not seen his full face for the first time.

She gaped at his maimed face, and she noted in horror that he seemed to be about her age. She took a step back slowly. "What?" He asked with a smirk gesturing to his face. "Something on my face? It's rude to stare you know."

Solus's aura suddenly sprung to life in a dull grey all around him, and with speed that shouldn't be possible even with aura he leapt at the other blonde and kicked her in the face hard enough to send her flying through the front doors and rolling on the ground. She slowly came to a stop and the feet of a small girl in a gothic black and red dress.

 _Violence is good for the soul._

"Yang!?" the girl cried in obvious distress.

Solus stepped out of the club, quickly eyeing off the new girl with a glare. Blondie, or Yang as it were, was out cold and the other younger looking girl was shaking her shoulders and shooting a venomous glare towards Solus.

"What did you do to her?!" the younger girl shouted, her small hands tightening into fists.

Just a job. Nothing personal. "I'm being paid to remove her from the club, she caused quite the stir tonight."

The girl didn't say anything, her silver eyes narrowed into a fierce glare.

 _She had purple eyes…_

Solus sighed, any anger still in his system quickly leaving him. He really should cut back on the alcohol… "Look girl," he ground out the the red head. "just… take this."

Solus pushed his right hand forward, in it was a small fist full of paper notes; Lien.

"Wha- what's this?" the girl questioned, looking at him oddly.

"Do you want it or not?" Solus snarled, his anger quickly rising once more. "I'm giving you money for the hospital bill."

The girl looked at his hand, still not moving an inch.

"Fine!" Solus spat, throwing the money on the ground, his unseen single blue eye showing little but anger. "Your friend's jaw is broken, see if I care."

Solus turned on his heel and began marching back into the club, he was done with this. At least he would be paid for this crap.

 **A/N**

 **Welcome! Or maybe welcome back! This is my new and improved 'Edge of Life'! for first-time readers I hope you enjoy, but be warned that this story is a serious and dark narrative.**

 **For those who read the original incarnation of this story just note that not much has changed, it's mostly just grammar corrections and a few added words here and there.**

 **Oh and for those who didn't read carefully enough, Jaune is Solus and Solus is Jaune. Okay? Solus is the name/title that Jaune will be using for most of the story. There will be times in his life that he use's/used a different name, but it will always be Jaune underneath, even if he doesn't know that himself.**

 **Oh and one final thing, because I'm a bit of a prick, I take delight in creating plots and stories that revolve around half-truths and preconceptions. So please bear in mind that just because one character thinks something to be true, that doesn't actually make it true. And just because I say something that doesn't mean it's true, I could be lying, or maybe I could be giving extremely vague hints about what's going to happen later in the story, hell, I did this in the paragraph above this one "...will always be Jaune underneath, even if he doesn't know that himself." It's just how I operate, I like leaving frustrated readers who thought they knew what was happening only for all they expected to happen to never see the light of day.**

 **Also, if you were one of the 10000 ish people who read through the spelling and grammar mistakes that the original Edge of Life was, then don't go and spoil it for new readers okay?**

* * *

 **EDIT: 12/7/2016 Just correcting a few things, trying to bring the early chapters up to the same standard as the later ones.**

 **Anyway, please leave a review!**


	2. The Job

Edge of Life

Chapter Two

The Job

Solus was happy. He had a bounty to complete, it wasn't anything major, he was being employed by the council of Vale to stop a possible raid on a cargo ship coming into the harbor. Normally the council would use their own police force to deal with the situation, but considering these raids were becoming more and more frequent, the council decided to get a professional in to but a stop to the thievery.

But apparently no actual hunter could be bothered dealing with something like this, so he was the next best thing. He didn't mind the thinly veiled insult; Solus just wanted the money.

Unfortunately, the council wasn't paying as well as Solus would have hoped, apparently, they were a bit tight on money since they bought something from the kingdom of Atlas. Solus didn't know what exactly, but well, he wasn't meant to know of their money troubles in the first place. He just… borrowed the information.

As it was Solus was making his way towards cargo ship he was supposed to protect now, he could see it in the distance, everything seemed normal. Some dock workers could be seen milling about doing their jobs; generally just going about their business at their own pace; completely unaware that Solus was watching them.

Solus really hoped this would be an easy job because he needed the money. Junior had only given Solus 350 lien for knocking out Blondie the other day, Solus had been angry about that at first but when faced with the logic that he had only punched the girl once or twice, he really couldn't deny that he only deserved 350 lien. But this job was offering about 2000 lien if he pulled it off correctly. Although to be fair, almost nothing ever went well for Solus.

 _Such is life._

A perfect example of this being the fact that several Bullheads were landing on the cargo ship and men with guns were pouring out and were rounding up the dock workers.

Solus spied what appeared to be the leader of the criminals, he was wearing what looked to be an expensive white suit and a black bowler hat.

 _Could it be?_ Solus wondered. The criminal turned his head slightly unintendedly letting Solus get a better view of his face.

"Roman!" Solus called out, mildly pleased to see someone he could reason with and not just some idiot with no survival sense.

Roman turned his head sharply toward the unexpected noise, only to see his one-time partner Solus walking towards him with a carefully blank on his hooded face. "Solus, it's been too long!" The flamboyant criminal said sarcastically. "And what a lovely surprise it is to see you here." He finished with a small smirk in place, fully aware that the one-eyed man held little love for him.

"Quite." Solus sneered, feeling his dislike for the other man's personality bubbling to the surface. "What a… pleasant surprise Roman. What are you doing here?"

"Oh you know, just borrowing stuff from people who don't really need it." as Roman said this he gestured to all the dust being stolen around them. "You know I love it when a plan comes together, it took some time, effort and lots of bodies but it all works out in the end!"

Solus scoffed, yeah right. As if Roman would do something so obvious under his own steam, there had to be someone else involved. But Solus didn't really care, he was being paid to protect the shipyard; not to solve mysteries.

"About that Roman." The merc said slowly as he prepared himself for a fight. "I'm gonna need you and your men to put all the Dust back, I'm on a job to protect it. I'm sure you understand, it's just business."

 _Unless you're willing to pay me more than the council of course. Then I would gladly help you._

Romans smirk slid into a scowl. "You know I can't do that Solus, I am on a job, and I always complete my jobs. Boys! Get him!" All of Romans goons lined up like a firing squad taking aim at Solus.

The one-eyed man quickly threw himself to the ground as bullets soared above his head. Pansy won't even fight me himself. Solus thought to himself as he rolled on the ground to avoid the hail of bullets that were aimed at him.

With a quick burst of speed Solus rolled onto the balls of his feet and then pounced at one of the gunmen, the man collapsed under the weight of the mercenary and fell to the ground. Or he would have hit the ground if Solus hadn't spun the man around in mid air and kicked him towards the other shooters, knocking them down like bowling pins.

The one-eyed merc looked around to try and find where Roman had slunk away to, only to see him in a floating Bullhead pointing his cane towards him.

Solus' eye widened. "Motherfu-"

Whatever else Solus was going to say was cut off when the explosive round detonated on the mercs gut. Solus was sent flying backwards roughly 10 feet before he came to a jarring stop on the concrete.

But Solus wasn't beaten that easily, oh no that just pissed him off. "Hey Roman!" he screamed. "Why don't you come down here so I can kill you!"

Solus then lifted his right hand, palm facing the airship, and his palm started to glow as if something was charging. But he never got to finish whatever it was he was going to do because one of Romans men had thought better of openly trying to fight the mercenary so he had dragged himself into the nearby crane tower that was normally used to lift heavy objects.

The man had used the crane to lift one of the large steel shipping containers full of dust above Solus' head and was prepared to drop it, so when he saw Solus getting ready to attack Roman, he dropped the container. Right on top of the grumpy merc.

"Yes!" the man cheered "I saved Roman!" something seemed to click in his head before he let out a deep sigh. "I saved Roman…"

Roman was slightly disappointed that it had come to this, but hey it was just business after all. At least that's what he thought until he saw the huge container being lifted into the air. Without any crane.

Solus was mad, very mad. Some bastard had thought to drop a one-ton shipping container on him. Yeah well, it didn't work because of Solus' semblance, which was the ability to augment his physical capabilities to insane degrees. For example, he could augment his strength to almost a hundred times his normal level, but there was always a drawback, if he were to increase his strength then his speed would go down proportionally, so if he was a hundred times stronger, then he was a hundred time slower as well.

It also wasn't an instant shift, he couldn't just change between either extreme in a second. From his neutral state he could quickly boost his strength or speed, but not to his max; to do that would take a few moments of concentration.

Solus had literally caught the container meant to crush him, the metal ground of the docks had bent and twisted around his heavy boots, and each end of the container had bent downward slightly from the pressure of all the Dust within. Solus started to power up further, lifting the container higher into the air, a vein was throbbing painfully on Solus's face from the effort, and then he brought his hands back slightly, and then he threw the container at the Bullhead Roman was in.

Roman was practicing his fish impression as the container soared through the air towards him and his stolen goods, but right at the very last second he regained his senses and leapt out of the vehicle, not caring that he was 30 feet in the air.

When the container hit the aircraft and the unfortunate pilot inside, it and all the stolen Dust in the airship exploded in a very colourful manner.

Solus stalked up to where Roman had landed, intent on hurting him, when the crane operator struck again, this time instead of dropping something, he swung the mechanical arm of the crane in an attempt to slap the bounty hunter into the nearby water.

And it almost worked too, Solus would have been in the water right now, if at the very edge the dock he hadn't clicked his heels together and two very sharp knives come out and spear the ground; halting his momentum. Although this still left him in a very difficult situation; because the blades had come out the tip of his boots, meaning that he was standing on the very tips of his toes.

But Solus was a survivor, and this wouldn't kill him. The mercenary grit his teeth together and a very faint grey glow appeared around him as his semblance activated again. Powering his strength up, his muscles bulged out as he slowly pushed the crane in the opposite direction, allowing him to get back on his feet properly. After about a minute of pushing Solus stopped and lifted the crane above his head and gave one almighty tug that pulled the whole crane to the ground. Presumably killing the operator inside.

 _That's for dropping the container on me arsehole._

Solus fell to his knees as he felt the strain of his semblance leave him, he was tired but not exhausted. Sweat was dripping from his brow onto the ground, Solus couldn't help but feel frustration build within him; normally he was better than this, he just hadn't had enough money for food lately… despite his mounting frustration, Solus pushed himself to his feet and quickly made his way over to Roman.

When the man in the white suit saw that a very pissed of looking Solus stalking towards him he tried to bargain for his life. "H-hey buddy, how about we just forget about this and we'll just call it even, yeah?"

But Solus was having none of it. "Call it even? I don't think so Roman. Because of you, I won't get paid for this. You've screwed me over on this, and do you know what I do to people who screw me over Roman?"

"Er- let them go peacefully?" The flamboyant criminal asked hopefully.

With augmented strength, Solus leapt forwards and punched Roman in the gut hard enough that his hand actually broke through skin and muscle into Romans stomach. As the thief was bent over gasping in pain from the hand in his stomach, Solus leaned in close and whispered in his ear: "Let me put this in a way you'll understand, I'm about to blow my load all over your insides."

"What the fu-"

"No homo." Solus cut him off, and with an almighty yell, a huge energized wave of aura was released from his hand blasting Roman far off into the water with a gaping hole in his stomach.

Solus staggered a bit from using that much aura while he was exhausted, just as he was about to go check to make sure that Roman was dead, one of the men he beat earlier pulled himself from the ground and unleashed a hail of bullets into the bounty hunters legs. His aura protected him from a few but not all, The ones that slipped past the merc's aura knocked the fatigued blond to the ground with several new holes in his body.

No. The pained merc thought. Just a bit more effort... he raised a gloved hand towards the shooter and a brilliant ball of greyish black aura energy shot off towards the gunman and his fallen friends. A small explosion killed them and sent Solus rolling back a few feet wincing in pain.

The wounded bounty hunter then proceeded to drag himself to his temporary lodgings in the city.

 _That could have gone better…_

* * *

Solus had just dragged himself into the dirt cheap hotel that he was staying at, he was currently lying on the bed with a knife in hand; ready to dig the bullets out of his legs when a knock came to his door.

"Not now!" he barked, not interested in company.

But the door opened anyway, and in walked an older gentleman in a dark green suit, in one had a cane, in the other a box of medical supplies. "Hello, my name is Professor Ozpin." the man said in complete seriousness.

He didn't seem fazed in the slightest that Solus was currently wearing nothing but his underwear, and his body was covered in grisly wounds and scars. The most notable of which being the scar over his eye, and a deep scar that ran from his left shoulder to his right hip.

"I'm a bit busy here old man, come back tomorrow" Solus barely managed to get that out between grunts of pain as he dug another bullet out.

 _This wouldn't have happened if I could afford to eat properly…_

The grey haired man walked over and started to treat some of Solus's wounds. But the merc was having none of it and shoved the man away, although not before snatching the med kit.

Ozpin was undeterred however, he quickly stood up and spoke softly. "I saw what you did at the docks tonight, and I thought we could come to a mutually beneficial arrangement."

Solus growled as he began wrapping bandages around his legs. Couldn't the old bastard take a hint? "What is it you want old man?" he spat. "For me to kill someone? Assassinations aren't my style." In his head, he corrected himself, _at least not anymore anyway._

"I am offering to pay you 100 lien a day if you attend my school, Beacon Academy for hunters and huntresses." Despite the distrust that Solus and shown so far, Ozpin's voice had remained calm and collected.

Normally Solus would say no straight away if someone asked him to go to school, what was the point after all? He knew all he needed too. But sadly he really needed the money. "…Why would you want a bounty hunter to go to your school?" The merc questioned, suspecting some kind of trap.

Ozpin was silent for a moment, his mind quickly mulling over what to say. "Because I see potential in you, untapped potential."

Solus thought the new information over for a moment then he spoke slowly, he hated the idea. But he didn't exactly want to starve either. "If I were to do this… I would need to be able to leave the school at least once every week or so if something were to come up."

"Students are free to come and go as they please of weekends and holiday-"

"That's not what I meant and you know it, I would need to leave for 3 maybe 4 days at a time" Solus really didn't like the idea, but he needed the money.

The elder man let out a deep sigh. "Very well, I can abide by this if you promise to not seriously hurt any of the other students." Truthfully this was about what he had expected, but he had played politics enough in his life to know how things like this worked.

"Ok you have yourself a deal"

 **I hate my life...**

 **A/N**

 **And that's chapter two.**

 **Hehehe, Jaune is kind of a self-serving ass, isn't he?**

 **Ok now onto some important stuff:**

 **With Solus firing blasts of aura out of his hands, no that is not something everyone can do, he can only do it because of his insane amount of aura and the gloves he wears. Don't worry, I'll cover it some more in later chapters.**

 **About his semblance, don't think it makes him invincible, Solus is still mortal, the semblance while powerful has got huge drawbacks, for example, he could run circles around Ruby at her max speed, but he would have almost no strength to back it up, or he could increase his natural endurance and toughness so he can survive huge explosions but he would be completely immobile. Everything he improves there will be some drawback. He's not going to become an all-powerful god; he's just good at what he does.**

 **Luluby56:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **I'm personally of the mind that the more complicated the story, the more twists, and turns, the more interesting it is. Provided it's done well that is. And as for him acting like he doesn't care… well… think of it as him trying to find a neutral between good and evil, as it is Jaune is still a terrible person who would do terrible things just to survive (not that he can help that).**

 **Jaune has two extremely specific possible futures ahead of him, it all depends on whether help arrives in time. (hahaha, I do make funny puns don't I?)**

 **The American Wolf:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **A few things have changed around but up to about chapter 17, there aren't any major differences from what I first wrote.**

 **Paladin73:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **I thank you for your continued support both in the original incarnation and this version of the story, but every major plot point you read from the original will likely be the same, teams included. And about the other parts of your review… well… you'll see…**

 **killerxhunter14:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Now you know why he beat Yang in 'like' 5 hits (3 actually…) "and with speed that shouldn't be possible even with aura…" this is what I mean about picking up on the little things.**

 **gusbot3000:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **I thank you for your continued support both in the original incarnation and this version of the story. I admit that at this point it's mostly just me changing things from "solus" to "Solus" but later on, the changes get bigger.**

 **Monkeylikespie:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **I thank you for your continued support both in the original incarnation and this version of the story. It's not exactly as if that was any significant feat, the original chapter 1 was so bad. Almost painful to read.**

* * *

 **EDIT: 12/7/2016 Just correcting a few things, trying to bring the early chapters up to the same standard as the later ones.**

 **As always please leave a review!**


	3. Mondays

Edge of Life

Chapter Three

Mondays

Solus Superstes hates a lot of things, but Mondays were just about one the worst things in the world for him. Solus wasn't a very lucky person, but on Mondays, it seems that all the gods share a good joke at his expense. All of the bad things that happen in Solus life happen on Mondays, the incident with Torchwick (which he wasn't paid for) happened on a Monday. The Monday before that Solus had almost been killed by an army of angry gangsters for killing their boss, Roman had been with him at the time and that just made it worse. Many, many, many Mondays ago Solus' life had been ruined by a bunch of overgrown pigeons and mongrel beasts.

Yes, Solus hated Mondays.

So bright and early Monday morning when Ozpin sent a message to Solus' borrowed scroll giving instructions on when to arrive at Beacon. To the merc's great disdain it also stated that a large airship would be ferrying new students from Vale to the school. Solus was not going to put himself in one of those metal death traps, they either exploded or made him feel ill; sometimes both.

So that left the mercenary with 2 other options: 1 to try and climb the vertical cliffs that Beacon was almost completely surrounded by, or 2 was to trek deep into the Emerald forest, and get to Beacon from behind. As the sea of trees almost completely surrounded the rocky landscape of the school, with only one narrow path as a walkway into the school proper.

So that's how Solus found himself walking through the Emerald forest, with a steadily growing trail of Grimm corpses behind him. Solus was just nearing the tree line for what appeared to be a large clearing when he heard the sounds of battle in the large gap in the trees.

When the merc poked his head out he saw a slightly portly man with a large axe…gun…thing killing of a few Beowolves, he looked quite merry about it as well.

 _Might as well go see what's happening…_

So Solus cautiously made his way towards the jolly-looking man, when he stepped into the clearing he noticed that in the distance there was a stone ruin with crumbling arches and moss. It seemed that the ruin was the destination of the grey-haired man, as he was slowly trotting off towards it, or he was until he noticed Solus walking towards him.

"You there! My good fellow, these woods are dangerous! I would advise you to head back the way you came." The moustached man said boomed with a boisterous voice.

Solus sneered. "I'd advise you not to take me lightly old man, and besides, I'm here on my way to attend Beacon Academy, which I presume you are a professor of?" He didn't like the man, he seemed far too cheerful.

"Why yes, I am my boy! But I must ask, what on Remnant are you doing in this forest? All students are to arrive at the school via airship!"

 _Dear god is he always like this?_

Solus grumbled, his eye narrowing slightly."Airships and my stomach don't really agree, those steel death traps also have a tendency to explode when I'm in them."

The large man chuckled deeply, his belly wobbling very slightly. "I'm sensing a story there my boy! But I fear that it must wait until another time; why don't you walk with me? I'm in the forest to deliver some relics for initiation tomorrow, after that, I would be delighted if you would accompany me to the school. Oh! Forgive my manners, my name is professor Peter Port, lad what's yours?"

 _Kill me now..._

"Solus Superstes."

* * *

2 hours later.

Solus panted raggedly as he gripped the cliff face. Fucking Grimm, fucking Peter Port...

Solus hated Mondays, he really did.

Everything had been going fairly well with that Peter Port fellow, the elder man had tried to make small talk for a few minutes and Solus had stoutly refused to answer any of the questions the man had. But then the professor decided to regale Solus with a tale of a past adventure. And then another, then another then another.

In the end, Solus had gotten so fed up with hearing about the man's exploits with Grimm and women, that he had run off the moment a swarm of Beowolves and Ursa minors attacked, making it seem that they were just separated during the combat.

He had been so tempted to kill the other man, even just to spare others from what was obviously a well-practiced form of mental torture.

But Solus got the distinct impression that Ozpin would be less than pleased if he tried to murder someone before School had even properly started. So instead of his original plan of walking into Beacon from the back of the school, Solus had been forced to scale the sheer cliffs surrounding the school lest he run into the chatty teacher again.

 _If I see him again I can't be held responsible for what I'd do to him…_

To climb said sheer cliffs, Solus was using his boot knives and the hidden blades that were usually attached to his wrists, this left Solus quite agitated because he would have to sharpen the blades when he got into the school. And how awkward is that going to be? Solus just casually sitting in the corner somewhere, sharpening weapons that had been used to maim murder and destroy, and he would probably be doing this in a room full of bored teenagers. _Yippee._

Just as Solus was finishing that glum thought, he final managed to pull himself over the top of the cliff, with a very dignified flop on the grass to catch his breath and to retract the knives that glinted dangerously in the sunlight.

When Solus finally got his arse into gear and started moving he noted that the huge personnel carrier ships had already dropped off the other students and that he was probably late already, _oh well_ the mercenary thought lightly.

Soon Solus was walking along the stone path when he came across a young girl looking quite dejected laying on the ground. But Solus didn't care, why would he waste his time with some freak laying on the ground? He had better things to do. Yes, he was aware that it was the other girl from outside the club, the one that had refused his money; he just didn't care.

However as he was walking past his eye strayed to the girl's face for just a moment and suddenly all of his thought process' ground to a halt. He'd seen her before somewhere, not when he'd glanced at her in passing back at the club, no this was something else… almost everything about her appearance screamed familiar to him. But memories of a time long past didn't come rushing to the surface, so she still remained a mystery to Solus.

Where have I seen a face like that before?

Without even realising it he reached down to offer the girl a hand up, which she gracefully accepted. _Why did I do that?_

"So…" he started while still wracking his mind to figure out who she is and why he helped her up."How's your friend Blondie?" _I don't really care, just tell me your name so I can work out who you are._

"W-what are you talking about…? Oh, Yang! How did you know she cracked her jaw?" the short gothic looking girl asked.

Solus raised an eyebrow underneath his hood, not that she saw it though. "I was the one who cracked it for her, and the one who paid for her hospital bill I believe." And you still treated me like dirt.

The girl gaped for a moment. "Y-your that guy! How…? Why are you at Beacon?! Surely you're not a teacher here!"

 _Imagine that… me as a teacher..._

"I'm here as a student girl, speaking of; shouldn't we be going somewhere? I do believe we have an initiation to complete." With that, Solus wandered off to find where everything was happening. I'll work out who she is later, I'm too tired to deal with this crap right now.

"Wha- but- I… where are you going?! Take me with you!" the flustered girl cried out before dashing after him.

 _Fuck my life…_

* * *

Solus was calmly standing in the corner of the huge room that housed all the prospective first-year students, he had ditched the other girl earlier; she just wouldn't stop talking.

A loud voice rang out, breaking his thought process. "Hey, Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot!"

Normally Solus wouldn't care, but the girl that just called out was waving her hands wildly to the girl Solus had helped earlier. So her name is Ruby… I don't recognize the name; so who the hell is she? Why does she look so familiar?

Solus was broken out of his thoughts when his eye landed on the two girls talking. Once again he couldn't shake the feeling that he knew the redhead, so he slowly moved closer until he could hear what they were saying; seeing if he could get more information.

"Yang! T-that guy is here!" Ruby 'whispered' loudly to the other girl.

"What guy sis? Did some guy hurt you? I'll kill 'em!" Yang's eyes flashed scarlet for just a moment before going back to lilac.

 _You can try._

"No, no! It's the guy who hurt you! You know, the one from the club!"

Yang's eyes widened just for a fraction of a second before narrowing dangerously, heat radiating off her form.

Solus saw her anger, but he also knew the signs of fear. It wasn't much, certainly not enough for her to actually do anything about it; but the fear was there. She was scared of him… _Delightful._

Solus was tired of just listening, he wasn't exactly the most patient of people so he quickly stepped into the girl's line of sight and began speaking: "Did I hear someone talking about me? Speak of the devil and he shall appear you know." He did so enjoy messing with people.

Yang took a very small step backwards in slight surprise at his sudden appearance, her eyes strobed red for a moment before she quickly composed herself; glaring daggers at the scarred man. "You!" She snarled. "Stay away from my sister!"

Solus opened his mouth to reply but a white haired girl came up behind him and cut him off by yelling at Ruby. "You!" She near shouted as she wagged a finger towards the red head. "You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!"

Ruby went to reply, but Solus beat her to it. "Schnee!" He literally spat the word out as if it was poison. "Why don't you go crawl into whatever hole you and your pathetic family came from, and die." With that final word Solus stalked off, bashing into Weiss' shoulder along the way.

 _Calm… even if a disgusting Schnee is here I can't do anything about it… perhaps given time she could lead me to her father- NO! I won't be like that… never again._

Solus didn't see it but Weiss was shaking with anger, her small hands tightened into fists as she glared venomously at his retreating form.

"So umm..." Yang said slowly, not entirely sure what the hell happened. "That was a thing…"

Before any kind reply was said, a light cough was heard from the stage in the room. "I'll… keep this brief." The suit-clad Ozpin started as he stood on the stage, his eyes peeking over his small glasses. "You have travelled here today in the search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people... But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume that knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can carry you so far, it is up to you to take the first step."

Off to the side of the room Solus was feeling extremely uncomfortable, because the entire time that the professor was speaking, he was looking directly the bounty hunter. And not once did he blink or waver, he just kept staring.

 _Very subtle you old bastard._

A blonde woman with glass's and a tattered purple cape took the stage. Vaguely Solus recognized her, some powerful huntress. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight, tomorrow you initiation begins, be ready. You are dismissed."

 _An entire night stuck in a room full of bored teens… I hate my life…_

* * *

"I'm just saying that maybe you and that guy could start over and all, I know he hurt you Yang, but you said there were scars on his face? Maybe he was just afraid or confused or something." The PJ-clad Ruby spoke to her older sister as they laid on the ballroom floor.

The sisters were currently talking about the mysterious guy whom they had yet to learn the name of. Ruby was all in favour of making peace and being friends, but that plan currently had two major problems: 1: Ruby was about as socially gifted as a rock, and 2: Yang was being rather… stubborn.

"God Ruby! We should just stay away from him, the guy is a total jerk." The elder sister replied, her purple eyes narrowed at the mere thought of it.

Ruby was going to reply, but she saw the man in question walk into the room and settle himself into a corner. He still had his sword strapped to his back, and he was still wearing his hoodie and cargo pants. And he was taking deep swigs out of a metal flask not dissimilar to what her uncle Qrow used.

"Look Yang! There he is, come with me and introduce yourself! Try to be his friend." Without even waiting for a reply from the elder girl, Ruby dragged her of to the subject of interest.

"Ruby! I don't think-!" Yang tried to say but was cut off when Ruby cheerfully began talking to the man.

"Hey there!" the younger girl called out to the mercenary. "Whatcha doin? Me and Yang here thought you looked a little lonely, so here we are!" she finished with a large toothy smile.

"Nothing" came the grunted reply.

"Oookay…. so um… what weapons do you have?" to her credit Ruby was really trying hard to be nice and social, but she just wasn't very good at it.

 _She's not very good at this, is she? But that does remind me to sharpen my hidden blades._ The scarred man thought idly, basically ignoring the girls before him.

"Go away brat, I need to sharpen my weapons." With that he flicked his left wrist so his hidden blade came out, he then proceeded to slowly drag a small stone he pulled from his belt over the blade.

"O-oh okay…" Ruby said slowly as she moved away, dejected by her failure and his harsh words. "We'll just… go then…"

That made Yang angry; no-one spoke to her sister like that! This guy was going to get a piece of her mind. "Hey!" Yang growled, waving her finger in his face. "Don't talk to her like that you creep!"

All she got was a grunt in reply. Yang stuck her finger upwards, a sneer crossing her face before she walked off muttering expletives under her breath.

When the blonde got to where Ruby was she started complaining and cursing the as of yet unnamed man, but before she got too far into in Ruby spoke. "Yang! Be nice to him, I don't think he's a very happy person, he's probably depressed or something. You told me about the terrible scar on his face! And look at his hand! Look at it!"

If only to humour the younger girl Yang looked over to the hands in question. His right hand was fine, no issues there. But his left hand? It looked like it had been put in a wood chipper repeatedly and then left without any medical attention. Even with the fingerless gloves that he was wearing it was obvious that he was lacking a pinkie finger, and the remaining fingers looked like they'd been broken several times and they were all sitting at odd angles.

Yang cringed just looking at it, sure she didn't like the guy one bit, but that looked... horrifyingly painful.

"We should try to be his friends, I mean what's the worst that could happen?" With that last closing statement, Ruby flopped onto the ground and fell asleep.

 **A/N**

 **And that's chapter 3**

 **Oh, Ruby surely you know that utter those words are basically inviting trouble.**

 **Now, before you all post a review saying how much you hate the way a portrayed Yang think carefully about their original fight. Solus beat her in three blows. And it took about 30 seconds, only about 5 seconds of that time was spent fighting and not talking. Yang is the kind of person who's always been able to put up some kind of fight, even if she lost in the end, for example; when she was at signal I'm sure she was beaten by trainers there, but it still could have been classified as a fight. Not an utter beating like Solus gave her.**

 **Don't get me wrong, the only reason Solus beat her so easily is because she was tired and because of his semblance, the fight would have dragged on much longer if he didn't use it or if she hadn't been tired. But Yang doesn't know that. As far as she knows this guy comes along and beats her with minimal effort after a few drinks. That's bound to incite a little fear… and a lot of anger.**

 **Ok, moving on.**

 **It was mostly just filler in that chapter I know, but it sets things up for later chapters.**

 **Speaking of later chapters, next chapter you're gonna get more information on Solus' past, not all of it, just a bit.**

 **Reviews:**

 **Paladin73:**

 **Remember me mentioning the whole "no spoilers" thing back in chapter one? Yeah? Good so don't continue to do what you're doing.**

 **He still has one eye.**

 **He hates the position Ozpin has put him in, and Solus won't let such an insult pass without ramifications.**

 **Teams were that way for a very good reason.**

 **No more spoilers.**

 **Guest:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **harems are tricky things, rarely written believably, and almost always ignore basic human emotions. I'll put it simply, humans are incredibly selfish creatures, and typically don't like sharing mundane things like food or water with each other. And as such would more than likely outright refuse to share a loved one. As my dear mother tells me: "sharing is shit".**

* * *

 **EDIT: 12/7/2016 Just correcting a few things, trying to bring the early chapters up to the same standard as the later ones.**

 **Anyway, leave a review!**


	4. Fort Independence

Edge of Life

Chapter Four

Fort Independence

 _A large Atlasian military force crept through the night, hoping to catch their prey unawares. They stalked a rouge group of faunus, although it was more like a small army of insurrectionist faunus._

 _These beasts used to be peaceful, even after the Great War. But recently they had started to become increasingly violent, it started with just beating up the occasional human, then it became the occasional murder. All this the kingdom of Atlas was willing to overlook to a degree, as long as the faunus still served the country in some way or another._

 _But it went too far when about 200 faunus declared themselves an independent kingdom and took control of the lightly manned fort Independence dubbing themselves the White Fang. From then on their numbers swelled with faunus from all over Remnant. They were currently nearing 2000 able bodied fighters and almost 400 civilians._

 _The Atlasian government has had enough by this point, so after many failed attempts to breach the fortress and defeat the defenders, the Atlasians contacted the world famous bounty hunter Argentum Mortem to deal with the problem._

 _Argentum Mortem was one of the best fighters in the world, also one of the best bounty hunters. He was infamous for his brutality and his cold uncaring demeanor. No-one knew what he looked like because he always wore a complete silver armor shaped like a minotaur that gave him monstrous power. He stood at an intimidating 6 foot 9, and the suit had glowing red eyes, reminiscent of the Grimm that infested the world. He also had a voice synthesizer, making whatever he said come out as a cold and disturbing cackle. He truly was a being to be feared._

 _Currently, he and 400 Atlasian black ops troops were crouched just shy of 100 meters away from the walls of the fort, they were waiting for artillery units to get into position about a click away._

 _"Sir! Units are in place, what are your orders?" Came the voice over the radio, speaking to Mortem._

 _Mortem didn't say anything in response, he pulled out his scroll and started typing something quickly. After a few moments, he put the scroll away and then spoke back into the radio ."The static barrier is down, target zones D-4 through F-4."_

 _There was silence on the other side of the radio for a few moments, the soldier on the other side pausing at the order. "I... yes sir."_

 _Next to Mortem, the second in command sputtered angrily and snarled at Mortem. "Intel reports that's where the civilians are! We can't bomb them!" Even in the low light, Mortem could tell that the man's face was red with righteous anger, indignant at the mere thought of such tactics._

 _ **How cute.**_

 _"Listen here runt, we will bomb who I say to bomb, and we will do so without you." Not a second later Mortem's arm shot out and grabbed the other man by the throat, the older man flailed and struggled against Argentum's grip but less than 3 seconds later a sickening snap rang out._

 _The body let out a dull thump as it was dropped to the ground and kicked aside._

 _"Anyone have a problem with that?" The armour clad boy asked, half hoping someone would._

 _The silence seemed to stretch out, none of the battle ready combatants saying anything to the armoured beast in fear of inciting his anger._

 _ **Cowards. Smart, but still cowardly.**_

 _A hail of explosions rained down nearby, faintly screams could be heard, but they were mostly drowned out by the explosions; the thunderous booms shattering the calm night air._

 _"Bullheads! Converge on the walls! Now!" Screamed Mortem into his radio, excitement pumping through his blood._

 _Instead of a reply, at least 20 of the armed aircraft swooped in from seemingly nowhere and started firing missiles that lit up the night with violent dust explosions. The explosions tore what was already a gaping hole in the wall into a large open area of flattened glass from the heat, as well as killing any of the defenders unlucky enough to be on the walls at the time._

 _"Third battalion! Charge! Kill the animals!" Ordered the silver monster as he grinned under his helmet, relishing in what he was about to do._

 _A group of around a hundred men charged through the gap in the wall, only to be met with a staggering amount of the rebels, it quickly turned into a massacre. The Faunus had rushed to the hole in their defences en masse, over 1500 were currently packed in; utterly slaughtering the third battalion._

 _But that was just part of the plan._

 _"Artillery!" The blonde haired merc snarled into the radio. "Hit the gap in the wall with everything! Now!"_

 _"But sir! Our men are still-" the officer on the other side tried, but was cut off._

 _"Now! That's an order!" screamed the mercenary, if that fool made them lose..._

 _In lieu of a response, a hail fire of dust explosions bombed the remaining troops that had charged the wall, killing them all, as well as at least half of the faunus defenders._

 _But Argentum Mortem wasn't done, there was more fun to be had. "Bullheads 1 through 5, do your duty! Now!"_

 _With little hesitation, 5 Bullheads swooped in and made a kamikaze run into the main building of the fort; they were unmanned, but only Mortem himself knew that. He had an image to upkeep after all._

 _The resulting explosions tore through the tower that had stood in the middle of the fort, with the command centre destroyed the rest would be easy pickings. The explosions wreaked havoc, heat waves blasting across the night killing hundreds and leaving the survivors confused and hurt._

 _ **Time for the real fun to begin.**_

 _"All units! Move in! Kill the fuckers!" With that final command, all remaining ground forces of the Atlasian attack group charged into the battle, Mortem included._

 _When they got there it was absolute chaos, what was once a mighty fortress containing thousands, was now a crumbling structure with pitiful defenders. Mortem reveled in the battle, swinging his arms around him with his wrist blades fully extended, Faunus around him died in droves. Any of his own soldiers foolish enough to get in his way were also cut down, their bodies shoved aside in favour of more things to kill._

 _But not all of the defenders were weak and confused, one bull Faunus, presumably a lieutenant, was swinging a red sword left and right, each swing was killing more of the Atlasian troops. Mortem didn't particularly care for the halfwit soldiers he was leading, but the bull man was obviously a level above the others… killing weaklings was fun, but killing someone that could fight back was even better; the look of utter defeat and failure that crossed their faces… it was the best thing in the world._

 _So when he charged the bull man and punched him square in the face it wasn't because he was a good commander, no, it was because it looked… fun._

 _The bull man was quick to leap back into action, as he flipped off the ground and charged the beast in silver. With a mighty swing of his sword and a battle cry that was barely audible over the sounds of the ongoing battle, the blade came down on the mercenary's shoulder, any other man would have lost the arm, but it just left a trail of sparks that soon dissipated. Mortem grinned under his helmet, the bull man was strong… but not nearly strong enough._

 _"Oh, that stung." Mortem informed the now gaping man, "It almost felt like you were trying to attack me, but I couldn't quite tell."_

 _"I- you beast!" The Faunus cried, swinging his blade once again._

 _But Mortem was done playing, the battle was wearing on and there was so much more he could do. With a speed that belied his massive frame Mortem dodged the swinging red sword and stepped into the other man's guard; a glowing ball formed in Mortems hand and was blasted into the bull man's gut in less than a second, sending him flying off into the rubble of the former command centre._

 _The small confrontation had lasted only about a minute or so, but the battle was drawing to a close already. corpses littered the ground and fires raged through what remained of the once mighty fort. Argentum's on men were dying in droves, only a few dozen still left standing; but that didn't really matter, as long as the job was completed in the end._

 _But one thing caught Mortems attention, wandering among the burning buildings and the broken and bloody bodies was that a girl, around 12 or 13 with hair as black as the sky above them. Little cat ears drooped sadly as her amber eyes washed over the sights before her. She looked completely dead to the world, her spirit battered and broken at the sight of the misery around them._

 _ **This could be fun.**_

 _Mortem walked to her, the glowing red eyes of his helmet shining in the darkness. He stepped into the girls vision and slowly paced around her now still form. "Do like what you see girl? It's quite the sight isn't it? All this chaos, this destruction, it's... beautiful."_

 _"Why? Why are you doing this? What did we ever do to you?" the broken girl asked, her two amber eyes unwaveringly staring at him._

 _"To me?" Mortem chuckled, "I have no issues with your people, I couldn't care less. But Atlas wanted you and your petty 'Independance' gone. I was simply the best man for the job." He raised his left hand and a glowing orb of power formed, ready to blast her into the next dimension. "It's just business after all. Now die like the rest of your people."_

 _But it wasn't to be._

 _Moments before the blast could leave his hand a loud war cry echoed out, and less than a fraction of a second later a red sword struck Mortem between the armour plating on his forearm and hand._

 _The appendage slid off Mortem's arm freely, the aura within dying and fading away even as the now maimed bounty hunter howled in agony._

 _but the pain was fleeting in Argentum's mind, anger began to overwhelm his senses; how dare some vile animal injure him so? Rage filled every pore of his body, Mortem turned to see who had wounded him, red clouding his vision. What he found was the bull man from earlier, but now he was covered in scrapes and cuts, and he had blood flowing from a wound in his stomach._

 _Before Mortem had a chance to kill the scum that had injured him so gravely, the bull Faunus threw a small disk shaped object that latched onto the silver armor of the mercenary. He grabbed the black haired girl and threw her to the ground and used his body as cover._

 _"YOU FILTHY ANI-" Whatever else Mortem was going to say was cut off._

 _A blinding flash of an explosion followed as the disk object revealed itself to be a grenade, It blasted the silver commander back at least 20 meters, Mortem would have immediately risen and killed the bull man but he was robbed of this chance because he was thrown into a nearby stone structure that collapsed around him._

 _That didn't stop him though, with a feral scream of rage the ruined building exploded away from Mortem, chunks of stone blasting through the air and crushing anything in their path. Mortem towered over the broken building, his body shaking with adrenaline and rage; his vision tinted red._

 _But the target of his anger was gone, nowhere in sight._

 _Mortem howled in anger and his aura reacted, blasting away anything not firmly attached to the ground. This had been a failure, with just a glance around him Mortem could see that all his men were dead; either slain by the Faunus or by the now approaching Grimm._

 _Argentum hissed in displeasure, one of the glowing red lenses of his helmet were also cracked down the middle. He would struggle to fight off the Grimm with only one hand, he couldn't allow his vision to be impaired as well._

 _The boy snarled furiously as he removed his helmet, air hissing as the metal was removed. When the helmet was fully removed and clipped to his belt, the feared bounty hunter glared at the Grimm. His twin blue eyes narrowed dangerously, his face showed no fear despite his youthful features; he looked no older than 13, his face smooth and unmarked._

* * *

"Hey, mister! It's time to get up!" The annoyingly chipper voice of Ruby announced loudly into his ear, snapping the merc into wakefulness.

Solus's eye snapped open in an instant; not fully realizing where he was or what was happening. Thinking he was still back at Fort Independence, he grabbed out at Ruby's throat and pinned her to the wall, with his other had raised with his hidden blade extended, ready to kill.

But reality came crashing back into the sleep fogged mind of Solus when he heard the whimpers coming from the girl before him. She clawed at the hand that held her, silver eyes widened in shock and pain as she tried to free herself. He quickly dropped her, the younger girl fell to the ground coughing and stuttering apologies for waking him, but he didn't care, he was too busy looking at his own hands deep in thought.

 _It was just a dream, calm down, I'm not that person anymore._

When Ruby had finally managed to stop coughing, she looked up at the man she had yet to know the name of, she gasped in horror at what she saw. From her position on the ground she had an almost perfect view of his face; there was a deep scar that ran down his face, she saw the eyepatch he wore, and upon closer inspection she saw that the scar was only half because of whatever terrible injury that maimed the man; the other half was likely from the operations that would have mended his skull and knit the broken flesh back together.

Trying to cover her horror at the terrible scar that maimed man's face she quickly started speaking, "S-so umm... you never t-told me your name..." all was said rather quickly, hoping not to incite his anger.

Solus snapped out of his thoughts as she spoke, his single blue eye narrowed slightly at the girl as she got to her feet. "It's Solus, now move out of the way. I need to prepare for initiation."

He pulled his hood up and brushed past Ruby, but she wasn't deterred, Ruby started following him, talking incessantly. "So, what school did you go to before? I went to signal, my uncle Qrow is a teacher there and he's really nice, oh! And he uses a scythe just like me!"

 _I haven't been to school since I was what? 7? 8? Happier times..._

"I haven't been to school for a long time." He said honestly, hoping the girl would leave. "Now leave me to prepare." He finished as he stepped into the locker bay.

Before any more could be said by Ruby, a blonde blur rushed up to Solus and snarled, "Stay away from my sister!"

Solus didn't care to respond or even react that much at all really as Ruby was dragged away by the angry blonde. The stupid girl could take her, Solus certainly didn't want to put of with Ruby for any longer than strictly required.

Ruby yelled out apologies as she was dragged away but Solus had stopped listening, he had seen that Scnhee girl again, and he really wanted to kill her; but... Ozpin would gut him if he killed a student. So all Solus could do was antagonize her.

 _Filthy Schnee's, why did the bitch have to come here?_

"Hey you!" He yelled getting her attention away from the armoured red head she had been talking to. "Yeah you, you filthy Schnee scum, why don't you just die?"

 _Witty._

While the white-clad sputtered indignantly in rage, the red-haired... amazon spoke in her defence "Come now," she said in a placating tone, "surely there is no need for such hostilities, can we not make peace for the past and be friends in the present?"

"Peace? With this bitch?" Solus waved his hand towards Weiss. "I'd rather castrate myself than friends with a Schnee whore." He sneered at the furious expression the pale girl held.

"You ill-educated rapscallion! How dare you slander the name of my family! We are the premier providers of dust to the world! And you bad mouth us?!" She spat in a positively acidic tone.

"You and your family are responsible for the Vacuo Massacre!" Solus hissed, fighting the urge to wring the girls neck.

"And you would believe the words of a deranged mad man?! Now please, leave my sight you peasant, I've wasted enough time with you!" With a final huff of fury Weiss stalked away, too lost in her anger to realize that Solus had mentioned a secret that was only known to the Schnee family.

Solus' was furious, the filthy Schnee thought she was better than him? He'd show her.

The red haired girl Weiss had been talking with prior to Solus' arrival stood still for a few seconds, slightly unsure of what exactly to do.

Eventually, she settled on trying to speak to Solus, "So umm... my name is Pyrrha what's yours?"

Solus sneered, he didn't want to speak with anyone that was friends with a Schnee. With a grunt as he walked away, Solus just said: "It's Solus."

 **A/N**

 **And that's chapter 4**

 **That dream Jaune had was when he was about 13 ish and was still a total arsehole, well he's still an arsehole, just slightly less of one. Maybe.**

 **Anyway, betcha weren't expecting him to so… bad, the dream itself speaks volumes about his personality because he wasn't fazed in the slightest when he killed his own men, and he was about to kill the girl (who I'm sure you've guessed is Blake).**

 **Jaune is really a shitty person, isn't he?**

 **But there's hope yet! He is trying to be better… well not better, just less… prickly.**

 **And wow, Jaune really does hate the Schnee family… can anyone guess why? If someone does guess why he hates them then I will happily answer any question with complete honesty, even if the answer contains huge spoilers for the rest of the story. So questions like "how did Jaune lose his eye?" or hell, even something like "how's the story gonna end?" will be accepted.**

* * *

 **EDIT: 12/7/2016 Just correcting a few things, trying to bring the early chapters up to the same standard as the later ones.**

 **Ok, enough rambling please leave a review, catch you next time.**


	5. The Emerald Forest

Edge of Life

Chapter Five

The Emerald Forest

Solus had to give that old bastard Ozpin credit for his balls, launching students into a forest full of beasts that could and would tear them into ribbons required gall.

Before this Solus had Ozpin figured for a soft-hearted old fool, especially when it came to his students, hell, Solus still thought that. Just slightly less than before.

Solus had heard of Ozpin before of course, some big shot hero from the Faunus wars eighty years ago. All accounts indicated him being an extremely powerful hunter that could mop the floor with almost anyone that dared stand against him… but it was also common knowledge that Ozpin hated fighting. Solus was still trying to wrap his head around how a man who hates fighting could be the headmaster of a combat school.

 _Seriously, it's like a pacifist running a boxing club…_

Even Solus had to admit however that he liked Ozpin's teaching style, it fit with the merc very well in its sink or swim mentality.

Or more accurately a teaching method Solus knew simply as fight and win or lose and die.

 _Fun._

Coffee mug in hand the headmaster spoke, his eyes drifting over the prospective students lazily. "For years you have trained to become warriors, today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald forest."

 _Dumping dozens of teenagers into monster infested woods, easy way to cull the herd there old man..._

His blond companion took over, her tattered purple cape swaying in the breeze as she spoke. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumours about the assignment of teams, well allow us to put an end to your confusion; each of you will be given teammates. Today."

 _Teams? Fuck my life, I just want to be alone; not with a bunch of whiny little children._

Off on his left side Solus heard Ruby mutter, "What-? Oh…"

Ozpin took over again. "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time at Beacon, so it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

 _What the fuck kind of system is that!? A three-year-old could think of something better!_

Solus could have sworn he heard glass shattering when Ruby screeched "What!?" from down the line, it was slightly comforting to know that he wasn't the only one that thought this was bullshit.

"-After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way, do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path; or you will die." Solus sneered, Ozpin was speaking to them like they were idiots. "You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff, you guard that item, as well as your standing and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?" He didn't even wait a moment before continuing, content that his instructions were clear enough. "Good, now take your positions."

 _This guy… He's got ball's, I'll admit that much._

Several people down the line were launched into the forest, it got to about Ruby was when Ozpin spoke again, his eyes drifting lazily over to the bounty hunter. "Oh and Solus? Remember your side of the deal."

 _Oh, you just launched a dozen teens into a death trap forest and you're telling me not to hurt them? Arsehole._

No more words were passed before Solus was sent flying with the rest of the students, but the headmaster remained unflinching even under the fierce glare the merc sent his way even as he sailed through the air.

This wasn't the first time Solus had been falling at such an alarming rate, hell, something similar happened almost every time he went on an armed aircraft of any kind; so the mercenary did what he always did.

Cannonball.

Maybe not the best of landing strategies for most people, but for Solus it worked a treat because he just curled into a ball then amped up his toughness as far as possible with his semblance.

Truly a great plan.

Truly.

When he hit the ground with a thunderous crash it created a massive crater, the compacted dirt a testament to how hard he had hit the soil; and it also probably attracted all of the Grimm in the area. Also, it hurt like hell, but Solus was used to pain so that hardly mattered to him.

So Solus uncurled himself and rolled his spine with a large number of cringe-worthy cracks and pops ringing out from the bounty hunters abused body. "Ah, that's much better…" He said to himself, single eye darting around; alert for Grimm.

Suddenly a pack of beowolves sprung into the recently made clearing and started circling the lone human, thinking him an easy meal. The minimal amount of bone plates told Solus all he needed to know; these Grimm were young, and undoubtedly very stupid too.

One to his left lunged at the mercenary, only to be met with air because Solus ducked, but he didn't stop there; he then shot up and plunged his hidden blades in the beasts neck, killing it instantly. Blackened blood seeped down his hands on onto his arms as the beast began to dissolve, but less than a second later Solus tore his hidden blades out of the dead beast's throat and let the blackened body thump to the ground before it dissolved entirely.

The merc wasn't given any respite, however, seeing the death of their pack member all the other dark creatures howled in fury and grief before charging the lone human.

 _Fun..._

Solus could just blast them all and be done with it then and there, but that would be no fun. So instead, when the first of the cursed beasts reached him, he flipped up onto one of the beasts back dragging his hidden blade across its throat as he did so, not quite killing it, just letting it suffer a tiny bit before its end. Solus then jumped off the dying beast and onto another, when he landed he gave the back of its head a vicious kick using his hidden boot blade.

Only 2 more left.

One of the two remaining beowolves gave an almighty swipe at Solus was still on the other dead mongrel, the attack didn't even come close enough to activate his aura, but it did manage to tear away a section his sleeve on his hoodie.

"This was my only hoodie you wretch!" Hissed the now pissed Solus. The sleeve of the hoodie was completely ruined; it had been torn almost from elbow to shoulder leaving two flaps of fabric hanging uselessly at the sides.

In an instant, Solus jumped into the air above one of the remaining beasts, and with a roar of anger pumped up his strength and stomped one of the beowolves heads, leaving the bloody brain mush to dissolve on the ground.

As quickly as he could with his increased strength; Solus spun around to the only remaining beast, and backhanded it in the face hard enough to utterly crush its skull.

The bounty hunter let his semblance fade and leave his muscles as he looked around and examined the decimated battlefield around him.

 _Why is it that everything I touch turns to shit?_

Just as scarred man was finishing that thought a rustle in some bush's to his left caught his attention, bringing his hands up ready to hurt whatever was coming his way, Solus was ready for any kind of beast that attacked him.

However, he was not ready for the small black and red blur that ran out of the bush's and stumbled to a stop just before him. Specifically, a blur called Ruby.

 _No…_

"Oh hey, Solus! Guess this means were partners then!" The younger girl exclaimed with a cheerful grin, her silver eyes alight with happiness.

… _Fuck my life._

"Oh no! Your hoodie is torn! Are you ok? Did the Grimm get you at all?" The girl asked as she tried to examine the mercenaries arm.

It was then that Solus remembered that one of those annoying beowolves had ruined his favourite/only hoodie.

 _Fucking animals._

So with a grunt of irritation Solus just tore the whole sleeve off, leaving his entire right arm bare.

 _It'll only get in the way if I left it hanging loose like that._

"I am fine brat, let's just hurry to our objective." He hissed, trying to contain his bubbling anger.

Ruby said something, but Solus wasn't listening. All he wanted was silence right now; couldn't the girl tell they were in a Grimm infested forest? The stupid girl would get them both killed.

They moved northwards for about five minutes with Ruby jabbering about whatever was on her mind, Solus didn't reply to any of it however.

Then Ruby took note of a strange looking scar on the bounty hunters exposed arm that was a band around the entire upper part of his arm, it almost looked like some terrible… rip… came across the arm, a surgery must have been used to fix such a horrible trauma.

"How'd you get this?" Ruby asked while fingering the wound.

Solus jerked his arm away, his single eye glaring daggers at the younger girl. Acidic words were on the tip of his tongue, but just as he was about to snap at the girl he was once again struck with the feeling like he should know who Ruby is; but still no distinct memories came to answer the question.

 _I know her… Silver eyes, red cloak… I've seen this before._

"Someone tore my arm off." Solus eventually answered, more interested in getting the girl to stop talking than anything else. But he couldn't help letting the smirk twist his features for a moment as he finished, "It's only fair, I tore his of first."

 _And what a fun day that was..._

Ruby froze, her silver eyes widening in horror as she looked at her new partner, he didn't look back her; he just kept walking north.

"S-Solus, Th-they t-t-tore-?" She barely managed to ask as he walked away.

Tore didn't mean cut, they ripped his arm off; he'd used the right words. It wasn't a fight he liked to recount often, shortly afterwards he'd had the limb surgically re-attached. Using a combination of synthetic materials and his original arm, the synthetics eventually became accustomed to his body, and simply grew into it; becoming his muscle, his arm. It didn't provide any boosts to strength, the muscles were programmed to keep muscle power proportionate to his other arm so there wasn't an imbalance.

But that didn't mean it was perfect, far from it in fact. Like all machines, parts of the artificial muscle degraded and wore out. Meaning it needed to be replaced, and Solus had the equipment to do that. But it was hidden away near the ruins of his home village, where no-one would find it without knowing it was there in the first place.

But it was clearly not what Ruby wanted to hear. The stupid girl no doubt wanted to hear some petty story of heroes fighting villains while doing the 'right' thing. _Idiot._

"If you don't want to hear about me getting hurt, you shouldn't ask about the dozens, upon dozens of visible scars visible on my body." Solus hissed quietly, hoping to end the conversation before they attracted Grimm.

A slightly teary Ruby just nodded in silence. Then they continued their trek northward.

* * *

 **Some time later**

Ruby and Solus finally broke the tree line into a large clearing that had a (to Solus at least) familiar overgrown ruin. They weren't the first ones there either, Yang and some ebony haired girl were already looking at the relics left by Ozpin's crazy professor Peter Port.

 _Finally..._

"Ruby!" Came the excited yell from Yang as she started running toward her sister.

"Yang!" Yelled the also excited Ruby, pleased to see a familiar face.

Just as the sisters were about to reach each other for a hug, there was a faint "Caw." from what Solus could only assume was a Nevermore. Then an orange haired girl fell from the sky, hitting the ground causing a shower of flying dirt, but she was unperturbed and quickly yelled out: "Nora!"

That girl is either crazy or a genius.

"…" There was a moment of absolute silence while everybody tried to understand how the girl got fell from the sky.

"Did that girl just fall from the sky?" The words finally tumbled out of the mouth of the black haired girl.

"I-" Yang tried to say but was cut off.

A guy in green with long black hair and that Pyrrha girl running from the out of the forest like bats out of hell. Solus was stumped by this, wasn't Pyrrha the winner of all those tournaments? Why would she be running…

 _Oh…_ Solus thought in mild surprise. _That's… a big Deathstalker._

"Did those two just run all the way here with a Deathstalker on their tail?" Asked the black haired girl, her yellow Faunus eyes widening to the extreme.

"This is total bullshit!" Yang yelled, her hair seemingly ablaze.

 _Mental breakdowns are always fun._

"Can we all just chill for like two seconds?!" The girl exclaimed furiously, her eyes flickering red at the sight of the incoming Deathstalker.

 _Come on, that's it? Try harder._

"Umm, guys…" The orange haired girl said while pointing upwards, her turquoise eyes shining slightly.

"How could you just leave me!?" screamed Weiss from high above as she desperately clung to the feathers of the Nevermore.

 _Now that is funny, I need to remember to thank the ginger girl for this. Seeing Schnee scum suffer always makes me feel better._

"I said jump!"

"She's gonna fall." The pessimistic ebony haired girl said a small grin on her face.

"She'll be fine." Ruby tried to reassure, but her words fell on deaf ears.

"She's falling," Solus said with an excited grin on his face, oh how he'd enjoy watching the death of another Schnee.

And so she fell. No one bothered to catch the snotty heiress, they just let her fall; she landed on her back with a thump and a moan of pain. The fall wasn't enough to seriously injure her (Solus cursed his bad luck, why couldn't she just die?) but it did look like it hurt.

"My back…" The girl in white weakly groaned.

 _Serves you right you monster._

The huge Deathstalker suddenly reared one of its pincers back and slapped Pyrrha and the green boy forwards about 30 feet, right in front of where the rest of the group, including the moaning in agony Weiss.

"Ren!" Nora cried out happily, pulling the downed boy into a bone crushing hug.

 _That looks painful, I actually feel a little sorry for the poor bastard._

"Great the gangs all here, now we can die together." Spoke the surprisingly pessimistic Yang.

"Not I can help it." Came the ever eager words of Ruby as she charged off and hit the Deathstalker with her scythe… only for the blow to have no effect and the girl the be punted away by the giant scorpion.

"D-don't worry, totally fine!" Yelled the obviously distressed Ruby.

The little red girl shot the deathstalker with her sniper and tried to make a mad sprint back towards the others.

 _Idiot girl is going to get herself killed._

Yang tried to run towards Ruby, but suddenly the Nevermore came back and shot a hail of razor sharp feathers at the sisters. By pure luck, Ruby wasn't hurt, but her cape was pinned to the ground, leaving her immobile and stopping Yang from getting any closer to helping.

The Deathstalker saw its chance, so it reared back its stinger and went in for the kill.

 _I should let the Grimm kill her, that way I don't have to deal with her crap anymore._

It would have killed Ruby, but Solus really didn't want to deal with Ozpin if the girl died.

 _Who am I kidding? I can't let her die, despite how annoying the stupid brat is._

And there was just… something… about Ruby that made Solus feel like he knew her.

So with semblance increased speed, Solus charged in front if the massive stinger. And with all his might, pushed every part of his semblance into his strength.

But there just wasn't enough time for him to gain any significant gains to his muscle power. So when he caught the stinger in his hands it still continued until it pushed about an inch into his chest.

And dear god did it hurt.

"S-S-Solus…" said the shocked Ruby, her silver eyes wide in horror at seeing the Deathstalker's stinger in his chest.

But Solus wasn't done, no, with a roar of such rage and pain that it made Ruby shy away from her saviour, a thick greyish black aura glowed around the mercenary as his muscles grew and bulged to insane sizes. The stinger was pulled from Solus' chest then ripped from the rest of the scorpion, leaving a bloody stump where it had once been.

The angry bounty hunter then threw aside the severed appendage and brought his hands together in front of himself. The world stood still for just a moment as a glowing ball of aura formed in Solus' hands, unlike the grey of his aura however, this energy was a burning black colour and seemed to have… dark intent.

With another roar the energy was realised, blowing away the Deathstalker, leaving hardly anything behind.

 **A/N**

 **And that's chapter five**

 **About the whole fort Independence stuff, yes Jaune was and is an asshole, but there is a possibility that he may be redeemed. Maybe.**

 **I started writing this story so people could see a different Jaune, not that other stories are bad, it's just that all of them have a Jaune that is always a good person, sometimes less, sometimes more, but always good.**

 **Jaune isn't good in this story, his sins far out way his good deeds, so don't expect a sudden change in his character.**

 **I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get many reviews last chapter (seriously one review? ONE?! The hell guys) but that's okay I can live with it. For now.**

 **killerxhunter14:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Yes but I'm not going to say who it is. But I'm sure you can guess that it's not going to be Weiss.**

 **Speaking of Weiss, the challenge I mentioned last chapter is still going, if anyone can correctly guess why Solus hates the Schnee family then I will answer any question regardless of spoilers.**

 **Oh, and can anyone explain those weird "I know you" vibes Solus is getting from Ruby? Go on give it a try I dare you.**

* * *

 **EDIT: 12/7/2016 Just correcting a few things, trying to bring the early chapters up to the same standard as the later ones.**

 **Leave a review!**


	6. Final Flash

Edge of Life

Chapter Six

Final Flash

Solus stood hands outstretched, panting, before him was a large crater, the dirt smelt roasted and burnt as it smoked from the heat of the aura blast. Where the crater now was a massive Deathstalker had been only moments before; the vile creature hadn't even left a single drop of blood behind, such was the power of the attack Solus had used.

A sudden pain gripped Solus, it was the poison from the stinger, it was coursing through his veins at an alarming rate, killing him from the inside. But this wasn't the first time that Solus had been stung by a Deathstalker, the poison was fatal and would kill him in about 2 minutes. But he was prepared.

Reaching down to his belt, Solus pulled a flask with a blackish purple concoction in it.

Vaguely in the back of his pain-racked mind, Solus could hear voices calling out to him, but that wasn't important; survival was important, so with little hesitation, Solus downed the contents of the flask. It tasted disgusting, almost made him vomit, but he held in down.

Soon the pain that gripped him faded, not completely, but enough for it to be a background distraction rather than the all-consuming agony that it was before.

"Solus! Solus! Come on don't give up now!" Yelled Ruby while grabbing his exposed arm and shaking him.

It was then that Solus became aware that he was on his knees and was sweating heavily. "Wh-? I'm fine, get off me" he hissed harshly to the girl.

She looked a little hurt but continued regardless, "Solus! We need to move, I've got the relic, but the Nevermore is about to make another pass!"

He looked towards the others and saw that they were preparing to retreat as well, "Time we left then!" With that, both he and Ruby charged off after the others.

All to soon they came upon more ruins, these ones being much larger than the circular structure that housed the relics. These ruins were built next to a sheer cliff, with some kind of temple being held in the air a several stone supports. The only way to get to the temple and subsequently the cliff behind it; was a narrow stone bridge that looked like it had seen better days.

The 8 students were making a mad dash for the bridge when the Nevermore rained down razor sharp feathers again, forcing the students to dodge behind some support pillars for the ruins. "I don't suppose anyone has a plan to take this thing down!?" Screamed Weiss, pain from her back injury showing on her pale face.

Normally Solus would take the time to insult the Schnee girl, but there far more pressing matters at hand. Like the Nevermore, or more specifically; the Nevermore that Solus recognized.

Oh yes, Solus knew this bird. It had a large scar across its right eye.

* * *

 _One of the evil birds made a swoop at John from his left, but the hunter jumped backwards and with his one free arm swung his sword down on the giant bird. The blow wasn't fatal to the Nevermore, but it did leave a large bleeding gash across its right eye; a cut that would likely scar._

 _Jaune whimpered at the sight of the violence but otherwise stayed silent so his father could concentrate. The injured bird flew away from the hunter to recuperate, meanwhile, the other Nevermore brought its wings back to fire razor sharp feathers at John. The elder man muttered soothing words to Jaune to try and keep him calm, but suddenly Jaune felt himself tumble to the ground; slipping out of his father's firm grasp and onto the hard pavement._

 _Jaune looked at his father in horror, several black feathers were jammed so deeply into the elder man's back that the tips were just poking through the other side. For a moment John just stared at the feathers, his face blank and uncomprehending to the sight before him._

 _But that moment was fleeting, less than a second later John turned to his son; his blue eyes pained and blood freely leaking from his mouth. The man was dying, even Jaune knew this. He just didn't want it to be true._

 _"Be brave, Son."_

 _The words washed over Jaune, the young boy cried and howled as his father took one last gasping breath… then stilled._

 _John Arc was dead._

 _Jaune was alone Against 3 angry Nevermore and a small army of lesser Grimm._

 _Tears poured down the boys face, he didn't want to die! Not like this!_

 _One of the birds swooped downwards, it's beak opened wide to eat the child in one single bite._

 _Jaune was ready for his end, he sat still, awaiting the pain._

 _Jaune didn't want to die, he was afraid… so very afraid. All this just wasn't fair! All those dirty rotten Grimm! Why did they have to do this to him? To his family?_

 _It… it just wasn't fair!_

 _Something just broke inside Jaune at that moment, his father was dead, his mother was dead, his sisters were dead, he was the last Arc, he wouldn't die like this, he couldn't... he refused to die like this. This injustice wouldn't stand, he wouldn't let the unfairness of the world take him too!_

 _A sudden white aura exploded around Jaune, unlike the smooth gentle aura of hunters; Jaune's aura was coming out in jagged spikes all around him, and it exploded with such fury that the ground around him compacted into a small crater._

 _A sickening scream poured from the Childs' mouth, a scream so intense, so loud, it made the Grimm around him pause; unsure of their next move. Jaune's once deep blue iris' had also disappeared, leaving his eyes a blank terrifying white._

 _Jaune's muscles bulged out to absolutely insane sizes, he himself grew from 5'4 to about 6'3. The swooping Nevermore was undeterred but, it was moments from cleaving the child in two when the unthinkable happened; the insane child caught the bird in mid air. The foul avian beasts momentum stopped entirely in the space of a second, its murderous red eyes gleamed with hunger and hatred._

 _Then with a feral scream of anger Jaune proceeded to swing it around like a rag doll, wiping out many of the land based Grimm in the process. Then in one single motion, he threw the huge bird into the air, letting it hang in the air for a moment as the massive Grimm tried to right itself._

 _While the bird was in the air, Jaune turned to his father's corpse, with unfocused eyes he reached down and took Crocea Mors. With another ear-splitting and terrifying roar from the child, he leapt 40 feet into the air, right next to the floundering Nevermore, and sheered it in half with his family sword. Letting the two parts of the birds fall to the ground._

 _When Jaune himself hit the ground, he let loose another horrible scream, this time with his jagged aura exploded around him once again, a sharp wind also escaped the child, blowing his father's body away into the distance._

 _The single unmarred Nevermore screeched back at Jaune, but instead of charging the boy, it shot a hail fire of razor sharp feathers at him. Jaune didn't even try to dodge, no, in his insanity the child just stood perfectly still, letting the projectiles just wash over him. But none of them caused him any harm, even when one the feathers hit him in the face, it just bounced right off._

 _Jaune started laughing, not the gentle laugh of a child, but an insane chuckle which held no remorse, no pity, just insanity._

 _He plucked one of the feathers from the ground and with even more crazy laughter, threw it at the bird, it sunk deep in the Nevermore, but the bird was quite dead yet, it tried to swoop down towards Jaune, but Jaune just jumped, and with an almighty yell, came down on the birds midsection, hard._

 _Most of the Nevermores organs were crushed instantly, the bird itself had stopped flying entirely, it just lay there, on the ground, mewling pathetically._

 _Jaune jumped off the dying bird and charged the mass of land based Grimm, proceeding to slaughter them by the dozens._

 _When there were none left Jaune stood alone in a field of fading corpses, the oily black miasma floating through the air like a plague. The scattered bodies of humans and faunus also littered what remained of the town; bloodied corpses of people he had once known._

 _Tears began to work their way down his face as he slowly shrunk until it was back to that of a typical eight-year-old._

 _Jaune suddenly screamed, but unlike his previous screams of insane rage, this was a scream of pure agony. It felt like fire was spreading all over his muscles, everything hurt; an agony so real, so intense, that Jaune started to claw at his arms where the pain was the worst._

 _Fortunately, before he could do major damage to himself, he was stopped._

 _Unfortunately, he was stopped by the Nevermore that his father had struck with the sword, said Nevermore had swooped down when it thought the beast that had killed so many of its fellow Grimm was at its weakest._

 _The birds talon raked across young Jaune's chest, from his left shoulder to his right hip, leaving a bloody gash that raked across the Childs rip cage. Knocking Jaune unconscious almost instantly from the shock and the immediate pain._

 _The bird wasn't brave enough to stick around and test its luck further, after scratching the child, the scarred nevermore flew away as fast as its wings could carry it._

* * *

Yes, Solus remembered the bird, and he remembered that it deserved a painful death for what it did. "Everyone!" He yelled at the other students, "I have an attack that can deal with the bird! But I need a minute to charge it! So get your asses into gear and distract the Nevermore!" Everyone was quick to jump into action, not wanting to piss off the guy who ended a huge death stalker in about 2 seconds.

 _The stupid bird is gonna die painfully._

Truthfully, Solus probably just straight up blast the stupid bird right now and kill it. But that wasn't enough for him, no that Nevermore was going to feel the absolute full power of the last Arc.

Solus stepped out of his cover, and into the middle of the battlefield, and spread both his arms out, straight off his shoulders.

 _This will hurt, but it'll be worth it._

"Yang!" Ruby called out, "Guard him while we distract it!" Surprisingly enough, there was no complaint from the blonde, she just went over and guarded Solus's position while the other were firing all kinds of dust rounds at the avian Grimm.

"Whoa…" Yang breathed when she got a good look at what was happening to Solus, golden lightning was arcing up his arms, in the palms of his hands, two blackish grey balls of energy were pulsating violently. What was most disturbing however was the fact that the skin on his exposed upper right shoulder was burning and sizzling, a few faint red lights glowing through the destroyed skin.

"Um… Solus is that meant to happen?!" Yang cried, unsure if this was exactly… healthy.

"Silence." The bounty hunter hissed out between groans of pain and exertion.

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

"Nora! Now!" Yelled Ruby, desperate to distract the Grimm while her new partner prepared whatever his attack was.

Nora responded by firing several grenades with pink hearts on them at the big bird, it didn't hurt the elder Grimm; but it did distract it enough for Ruby, Blake, Pyrrha and Ren to be shot into the air by one of Weiss's glyphs. The three hunters landed on the avian Grimm, in an attempt to clip its wings their blades stuck the wings repeatedly all in an attempt to knock it out of the air, but with one violent shake by the bird Ruby and Ren were knocked of the foul creature, Blake thinking fast, jumped of and grabbed her falling comrades; then used Gambol Shroud to swing back to the temple where Weiss and Nora were.

Pyrrha, being the last one left on the bird had to think on her feet, after a few seconds of flailing around helplessly she shifted her weapon Akuo into its spear mode, dragged herself to the birds head and then with an impressive war cry, drove the spear into the Grimms eye.

It screeched in pain, and just as the spartan was pulling her spear out its eye. The dark bird dove straight into the nearby cliff, Pyrrha only just managed to jump off in time.

Seeing the other red head was off the bird, Ruby yelled, "Everyone! Hit it with everything you've got now!" The six students fighting the bird let loose everything they had into where the nevermore had crashed, surely nothing could have survived that. Not even a class C Grimm, like a fully grown Nevermore.

But this wasn't just any Nevermore; this one was positively ancient compared to most Grimm, and as such, it refused to die at the hands of mere children. The beast shot out of the dust cloud that had enveloped where it had crashed, and with a mighty roar that seemed to shake the world around them, shot razor feathers at the hunters to be.

The students narrowly dodged, but only by a fraction of a second. The black feathers slammed into the ground with the force of missiles, dirt exploding outwards as the projectiles dug into Remnant.

Dirt and soil forced the young hunters to screw their eyes shut and desperately rub their faces to clear away the dirt.

Just as the huge bird was about to shoot more feathers at the now helpless teenagers, the Nevermore heard something that chilled it to its blackened bones. It was a voice in remembered from many years ago.

"Hey! Remember me you stupid bird!?"

* * *

 **Moments earlier**

Solus felt like he was on fire.

The artificial muscles in his right arm weren't meant to deal with this kind of power; as such, they were cooking his arm from the inside, and almost all of the skin on his upper right arm had been roasted by the red hot fake muscle.

Sweat was pouring down his face as well, the hole in his chest from the Deathstalker's stinger was bleeding profusely, he could feel the poison slowly overcoming the anti-venom had taken before, but he still had time.

Yang looked on in fascinated horror as Solus was almost killing himself.

Solus suddenly brought his hands from being outstretched, to being together in front of himself, the blackish grey balls of energy that were in his hands, looked very different to other energy he had used before.

Before the energy, while powerful, had looked somewhat unfocused, as if the outline of it was hazy. But now the blackish grey energy looked… condensed almost, the outline was clear, and the balls themselves were only about as big as a basketball.

"Hey! Remember me you stupid bird!?" Solus screamed to the Nevermore that had helped kill his family.

Seeing he had the Grimms attention he screamed to the others: "Everyone get DOWN!"

Suddenly the energy was released, instead of the balls leaving his hands, the black energy shot outwards in a huge beam of dark light that seemed to absorb the light out of its surroundings.

When it collided with the Nevermore everything seemed to stand still for just a moment. All the assembled students gasped in shock and absolute horror as the black light drew on everything around them, and even though the attack never even came close to them they could feel their aura's shudder at the immense power.

But the moment was fleeting, the dark avian let out an agonized screech as it was burnt away under the power. But the attack didn't end there, the beam waned slightly but continued into the cliff behind where the Nevermore had been; the cliff itself was also reduced to little more than a mound of rubble.

Everyone gaped in shock and horror at the destruction caused by Solus, "H-how is that possible?!" Ren gasped, his mind failing to comprehend the sight before him.

 _Worth it..._

Ruby looked over to Solus, but much to her dismay, he just stood there panting for a moment and then passed out entirely. Hitting the ground face first.

 **A/N**

 **And that's chapter six**

 **What a doozy! So I know some of you might be thinking 'Hey I thought you said Jaune wasn't going to be all powerful' well fear not, because he isn't. The power he used as a child was something he has used only one other time in his life, and it's not something he can just turn on and off. It's kinda like a defence mechanism. But that power will play a huge role in the story to come.**

 **So has anyone noticed what I've been doing the last couple of chapters? No? Well let me tell you then: I have been trying to make it very clear what the upper limits to Jaune's power is. Now you know.**

 **He can wipe huge cliffs and small mountains away, but in the process, he is killing himself. And he has to charge such an attack, not just flick his wrist and say "Goodbye!"**

 **Also, fun fact: The name Solus Superstes is "sole survivor" or "the only survivor" in Latin, that name is not referencing the day of the eclipse, it's something else entirely**

 **TheMAO17:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Although you and I have already had a delightful conversation about your review a feel somewhat obligated to answer the main point again so that everyone can see it. Yes, Solus has in fact met Summer Rose, but how that meeting turned out will remain a mystery until later chapters.**

 **gusbot3000:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Thank you for being kind enough not to spoil anything for new readers, it's a kindness that others don't seem to understand (talking about you paladin73!)**

 **The American Wolf:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Well… yes… but I was kinda hoping for a slightly longer explanation of it.**

* * *

 **EDIT: 12/7/2016 Just correcting a few things, trying to bring the early chapters up to the same standard as the later ones.**

 **Please leave a review.**


	7. Things Past

Edge of Life

Chapter Seven

Things Past

Headmaster Ozpin was silent, his cane held firmly in his withered hands as he stood as still as a statue. The clean chemically sterile smell of the medical wing of Beacon assaulted his nose, but the aged man paid it no mind; his thoughts were consumed by listening to the resident doctor of Beacon ranting wildly about the condition of one of their newest students.

One Solus Superstes to be exact.

"I didn't even realize the human body was capable of withstanding such trauma," the grey-haired doctor muttered as he looked over his notes, a deep crease in his brow. "Deathstalker poisoning is deadly without immediate medical assistance, and this kid survives over an hour without any help…" the white coat clad man began pacing, hardly even aware that Ozpin was in the room.

"And that's not even counting the skin damage he had! All the skin on his upper right arm was gone, cooked right off the muscle! If you can even call it muscle anyway, everything in his upper right arm is completely artificial! And judging by X-rays, the bone must have been torn entirely in two! Ozpin, this student had his arm ripped off! And that's only his relatively recent injuries! That scar over his eye defiantly needed surgery, the X-rays also revealed that he has a metal plate on that side of his face, just to hold the skull together!" The gray-haired doctor ranted, his voice slowly getting higher in pitch and tone.

"But that's not all! His ribs have been reinforced after having been broken on multiple different occasions! And his knees have little to no cartilage, meaning he has severe arthritis." The chart was long since abandoned by this point, dropped in favor of the man waving his hands around in frustration.

"The boy also has a pacemaker! A pacemaker at seventeen years old I swear kids these days are just plain stupid. The arteries of his heart were damaged enough to warrant a pacemaker… this kid shouldn't be fighting. Especially considering that his lungs are damaged, quite badly too! I'd say he only has about 40% of his natural lung capacity available to him, doesn't help that he smokes either-"

"Doctor." Ozpin interrupted in a totally level tone of voice, his features relaxed as he held his warm mug of coffee. "I understand what you are trying to say, but can you please tell me one thing?"

The doctor looked slightly miffed but nodded anyway.

"How old are some of these scars?" The headmaster asked. If he knew that… then he might be able to determine who exactly the boy was.

The doctor was silent for a moment, his eyes wandering over the shirtless form of Solus as he lay unconscious. "At a guess? The oldest would be the huge scar on his chest, I would say that it could be anywhere from 5 to 10 years old."

"Thank you, doctor," Ozpin said idly, his mind hard at work to connect the dots. "I won't bother you any further, you may return to your duties."

With that Ozpin strode quietly out of the infirmary, his mind buzzing with the possibilities; thoughts delving ever deeper into the mystery of who 'Solus Superstes' actually was.

* * *

They had already been sorted into teams, one team consisted of Pyrrha, Ren, Nora and Weiss, led by Pyrrha. Team PRWN or Prawn for short. The other team was: Ruby, Solus, Yang and Blake, led by Ruby. Team RSYB or Rose bud for short.

It was their first day at Beacon, the fiasco in the Emerald forest notwithstanding when team RSYB was called up to the head masters office. Ruby was the first one to get going, being concerned about Solus, and she forced Blake and Yang to move as well, despite the fact that neither girl was particularly eager to see their new teammate.

Ruby and Pyrrha were worried about Solus, Ruby for obvious reasons; but for some reason, Pyrrha also seemed quite concerned. Yang couldn't make heads or tails of the man, he go's around acting like he doesn't like anyone and hates everything; but then he saves Ruby from the Deathstalker. Getting injured in the process, then to top it all of he go's and kills the Nevermore that they were fighting, potentially saving their lives. the blonde girl wasn't sure whether she should hate him or like him.

Blake herself didn't really know Solus, but he was on their team, and he killed the Grimm. So he couldn't be all bad right? Regardless of that, she was now stuck on a team with him, so she was mildly concerned about his health.

When RSYB minus the S arrived at Ozpin's office, they were let in without having to knock. The door just swung open to reveal Ozpin standing calmly in the center of a large clock themed circular room, gears and cogs churned under foot with gentle motion; creating a gentle ambiance that seemed to flood the room with calmness.

"Ah, girls," The aged headmaster greeted gently, his hands firmly grasping his cane and coffee mug respectively, "please, take a seat." He gestured to a couch near his desk.

When they all sat down Ruby was the first to speak, her voice soft but slightly pleading. "Professor is Solus ok? When is he gonna get up? How long will he be-"

Ozpin held up his hand, and immediately the red girl was silenced, "Mr. Superstes will be fine, I expect he will wake soon, but his health is not what I asked all you here to speak about, tell me what do you girls know about him?"

A moment of absolute silence, each girl was startled by the sudden question. But Ruby was the first to answer, her voice quiet and quivering slightly. "H-his arm was torn off…"

Yang and Blake looked startled, their expressions showing shock and disbelief. Yang opened her mouth to say something, but Ozpin cut her off. "The man called Solus Superstes as only existed for about 6 months, that, coupled with other bits of information I have uncovered about him have led to quite the mystery, I don't even know his real age, but I can guess at some past alias' he may have used"

The girls looked at him expectantly, their expressions showing how hungry they were for more information.

"I assume you girls are familiar with the story of the Lonely Wanderer?" Yang and Blake nodded but Ruby looked lost. "Umm… sorry professor never heard of him."

"Well let me explain then, after the Vacuo massacre there were reports of many lost and forgotten people who wandered Remnant, all without much reason to live. But one among them stuck out, that one was a young man around 15 years old with a heavy scar on his face, he wore an eye patch. The story goes that the young man wandered from through the decimated towns looking for something in particular, what it is no-one knows; but in his search, he found many survivors; and helped them survive long enough for rescue to arrive. But he continued to look for over a year, the last reported sighting of him was last year, no confirmed sightings have occurred since. The Lonely Wanderer just vanished into thin air, poof, gone, not a trace of him to be seen ever again."

They all knew what Ozpin was saying when he spoke of the Vacuo Massacre, who didn't know? An entire kingdom had been almost wiped out in some freak accident involving a new experimental new dust reactor overloaded and had exploded. The reactor itself needed huge vents otherwise it would just be a big bomb, those vents led to most of the towns and villages' in the kingdom of Vacuo, someone, no one knows who had redirected the explosion from the main city of Vacuo; through the vents into the towns, the towns were utterly destroyed, overall casualties were estimated around 60 000 people killed, and only a measly 500 survivors. If the explosion had happened in the city then only the 50 000 permanent residents would have died; but the entire kingdom would have fallen, meaning most if not all would have died, really it was a lose, lose situation.

"Sir, are you saying that Solus is the Lonely Wanderer?" Blake questioned, not quite believing what she was hearing.

"If you don't believe me, see for yourselves." As he finished saying this, a holographic screen flickered into life beside him. On the screen was a single picture, it was dated two years ago, the image was a youngish looking teenager 15 or 16 years old, he had blond hair and blue… eye, one side of his face was covered in a thick scar that looked very fresh, so fresh in fact that it was still red and swollen around the edges; blood leaking from broken stitches.

The most gripping part, however, was the eye that remained, it held none of the life or innocence that youth had, no, it was the eye of someone who was just so tired of life and its unfairness; the boy's body belied the age and weight that his eye held.

But this was undoubtedly a picture of a younger Solus.

"As you can see, this is without a doubt Solus at a younger age, this is also the only known picture of the lonely wanderer. This image is strictly controlled by the kingdoms, the wanderer is a heavily sought after man. He survived in the glass deserts of Vacuo for over a year with little to no help, and every council wants to know how." The headmaster spoke as he slowly began pacing the room, his shoes tapping against the see through floor. "Before this, I loose track of who he is and what he did for a few years. But the earliest age I can find someone matching the right description is when a child of no more than 10 is leaving a heavily armed military facility in Mistral."

The picture on the screen changed, now there was an image of a heavily injured child with blonde hair, and two blue eyes lugging a large sack away from a structure in the background. There was a sword equipped on the kids belt, but that part of the image was hazy and unfocused. The kid himself was bleeding heavily from what looked like several gunshot wounds all over his body. "This picture was taken just moments after an important military testing complex was attacked and several items stolen, including years worth of weapons data and designs."

The girls were gaping in silence at this all this information, how could a 10-year-old child have done that? It's insane! "Sir… why are you telling us this?" asked Yang, her mind whirling.

"You need to be aware of who he is and what he's done. But you also need to know this; to survive the things I suspect Solus has, he has had to drown his conscience, his morals, his very soul in a pool of hatred and pain… but that's not who he is. He has the power to be a great force for good in this world, but not without the right help."

There was a moment of silence then Blake spoke, her yellow eyes locked onto the pacing headmaster. "If what you say is true professor… then how do you know that he will be good? He could just as easily become a criminal."

The aged man hummed his agreement, a slight nod of his head to acknowledge the faunus girl's opinion. "When you get to my age you pick up a few things miss Belladonna." He paused, seeming to mull something over for a second before continuing. "Over a great deal of time, I have learned to observe the souls and auras of others. When I look at all of you I see a bright, pure, uncorrupted aura. When I look at Solus I see a blackened, tattered, shriveled thing. You may ask how that is possible, how can someone damage their soul so? When one person kills another in cold blood with no remorse, no regret, it kills them inside, just a little. To do such damage Solus would have killed many. But right in the very center of his scorched soul; right at his very core is a glowing pure incorruptible light, that, I believe is his conscience. buried beneath years pain and hatred, but still there. I think you three might be able to uncover it."

A stray tear leaked down Ruby's face, but she and the other girls held their composure.

"Now, girls," the silver-haired man began as he made his way towards the door. "I do believe he will be waking up right about now, so if you would like to follow me to the infirmary."

* * *

A groan came from Solus, as he awakened, his eye slowly flickered open, he took a few glances around him. Clean white walls boxed him in, he was on a bed at the beginning of a row.

 _A hospital of some sort._ His mind supplied as he slowly awoke.

That's about when Solus realized that he wasn't wearing his hoodie anymore, he was shirtless. He also had thick bandages around his right arm, well, enough of that. He thought as he gently removed the white wrappings, cautious note to disturb the wound any more than he had too.

He was about half way through getting rid of them when he accidently bumped the arm, violent pain shot out all over his arm and shoulder; it felt like the muscles were damaged, "shit." He gasped through the pain. "I need to replace the muscle."

"Not a common phrase for one to say Mr. Superstes, care to elaborate?" Ozpin asked as he strode confidently into the infirmary. Three girls trailing behind him, each of them cringed in sympathy upon seeing the myriad of brutal scars that crisscrossed the merc's battered body; but each girl quickly hid their pity and put more neutral looks on their faces.

"Solus! You're ok!" Ruby declared happily as she dashed out from behind the gray-haired professor, and straight into Solus for a hug. Or she would have gotten a hug if Solus hadn't caught her with his good hand before she could reach him, she flailed in his iron grip for just a moment before giving up on hugging him; and instead started rambling about how glad she was that he was ok.

 _Does she ever stop talking?_

"Ozpin" Solus interrupted Ruby, but the girl didn't seem to mind all that much. "I need to get my arm fixed, about a week should do it." he tried to get up, but in doing so he jostled his wounded arm, and he let out a violent hiss of pain as an agonizing burning feeling burned the inside of the arm. On the outside, it looked the same as before initiation, just like a band around the upper arm; but on the inside, it felt like there was something… alien in his arm, like something wasn't meant to be there. The fake muscles weren't responding correctly to his brain signals, hell, some of the muscle was just not responding at all, it was just a lump of broken machinery.

"Solus are you ok?!" Ruby asked with worry in her silver eyes, eager to help her partner.

 _Dumb girl thinks I need help? I'll show her..._

Solus was on the verge of making some snarky comment when he looked into her eyes. What he saw was concern, not concern out of him not being able to complete a job, not concern for him failing to get her money or the like, no. It was actual concern for him as a person. Solus hadn't seen such concern since Kira-

 _No._ Solus cut his own thoughts. _Not her, never again._

And again Solus was overcome with a strong sense of familiarity with Ruby, like this overwhelming feeling that he should know who she is. Like he'd met her before.

"Helloooooo? Anybody in there? Solus?" Yang asked the zoned out mercenary, staring at his glazed blue eye.

"Wh-? I'm fine!" he snapped when reality came crashing back, thoughts of the past once again banished to the back of his mind.

Seeing the incoming argument, Blake decided to introduce herself. "Hello Solus, we didn't get a chance to speak before, my name is Blake." Her amber eyes were held steady on his own blue orb, carefully concealing the pity she felt for the scarred man before her. She wouldn't demean him like that.

Solus's gaze leveled on the girl, she looked vaguely familiar to him somehow. "Yes, yes nice to meet you, are you to be part of what is no doubt going to be the most irritating team in history?" he spat in a very sarcastic tone of voice.

"Oh? And what makes us irritating? What did we ever do to you?" she retorted.

 _What did we ever do to you?_ a small voice whispered in his mind. Something was telling Solus he knew the girl from somewhere, that he'd met her before, but that couldn't be possible, most people he met he killed, or at least tried to k- oh.

Oh.

Fort Independence, the little black haired girl with cat ears, about to kill her with a blast. Yup, Solus had defiantly met her before, and he had likely killed her whole family, all her friends too. Oh, and crush her people's hopes and dreams. How awkward

How very awkward.

 **A/N**

 **That would be terribly awkward, wouldn't it?**

 **So, Ozpin is looking into Jaune's past, that can't end well for anyone; but what can you do. Also, intense stuff there with the whole 'Lonely Wanderer' stuff, can you guess what he was looking for?**

 **The Vacuo massacre will play a huge role in the story, so I suggest you read carefully whenever the subject comes up. Also just some friendly advice, with most aspects of this story, don't take anything at face value. Read between the lines, just because one character says something, doesn't mean it has to be true.**

 **So I've had a few people guess about why Solus hates the Schnee family, so far no-one has guessed correctly, but this chapter should give you all a major clue.**

 **In the meantime let's take a look at the reviews:**

 **Schwarz Glaciem:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **No, Solus had no association with the Schnee family when he still went by the name Jaune Arc. And the same applies for the rest of the Arc family. Nice try, though.**

 **Paladin73:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Perhaps I was a little harsh in my words to you last chapter…. But regardless of that, I will overlook any past transgressions provided you don't repeat them.**

 **And about the stuff with the arm and eye being slightly disturbing… well… that stuff is fairly tame compared to what comes later…**

 **And you've read the battle of fort Independence, would you really want that man to lead? Solus leads with only the objective in mind, he will let as many of his troops/followers die as he feels is required just so he can get to the objective. Ruby, on the other hand, leads with the thoughts and feelings of her subordinates in mind, she would never sacrifice someone under her command just to reach the objective faster.**

* * *

 **I also got a PM from someone who's name I'll not mention, saying: "Did solus kill everyone at fort independence on the orders of the Schnee family but they denied any involvement in it and left him to take all the blame? Or they refused to pay him for it? And that is why he hates the Schnee's?"**

 **And that too is completely wrong, the Schnee family had nothing to do with fort Independence. And at the time Solus (or Argentum Mortem as he was called) frankly didn't care what people thought of him so long as he still had a steady amount of bounty's to complete.**

 **So the Schnee challenge as I've taken to calling it is still going. Please give it a try.**

 **EDIT: 26/7/2016 Just fixing things...**

 **Please leave a review.**


	8. chapter 8

No reviews… not even one… no PM's… nothing.

I got absolutely _nothing_ from last chapter, despite the fact that 318 people read it, 6 people followed it and 7 people favourite'd it.

Im not offended, not really anyway. Im mostly curious though, what exactly am I doing wrong? What about 'Edge of Life' is making people read it but not take 30 seconds to leave a comment? It doesn't have to be positive, hell it could be entirely insulting and rude and id still respect your opinions.

But in all honesty I do need some kind of feed back from every chapter in order for me to continue writing, it doesn't even have to be a review, it could just be a PM so its just between us. But realistically for me to continue writing this im going to need at least 3 reviews/PMs per chapter. It's the only way for me to really feel like I _want_ to continue the story.


	9. The Arm

Edge of Life

Chapter Eight

The Arm

Solus was marching stiffly towards the Cliffside landing pads, intent on… borrowing… one of Beacons many Bullheads. He was currently being spoken/yelled at by his three new team members, and professor Ozpin, quite frankly, it was pissing him off.

 _I won't murder them… probably._

"Where are you even going? With your arm like that you should just go back to infirmary" Blake said firmly, her amber eyes boring holes into the back of the mercs head.

 _Yeah… no. I'm really sorry for the whole 'murdering everyone you knew and loved' thing but you still don't get to order me around._

"School just started! You can't leave!" Yang complained, more interested in keeping the status quo than keeping the psycopath around.

"Take us with you!" Ruby pleaded in complete contrast to her other teammates.

Solus tood a deep breath as he stomped towards the Bullheads, the fresh outdoor air helped soothe his temper. "I'm going to get my arm fixed," he declared, not caring about the reactions of his new 'team', "only two places in the world can do that, and yes, yes I can just leave. And no, no I won't take any of you with me."

Ozpin took a light sip out of his perpetually present coffee mug then said, "Now, Mr. Superstes, I'm sure if you return to the infirmary something can be arranged-"

"Ozpin I have no doubt that while I was out you had one of your doctors take a look at my arm, so we both know that Beacon can do nothing to help me, besides, you know I will come back, if your still willing to make me come here that is" The now very irritated merc snapped.

Before Ozpin could say anything in his defence Yang spoke up, "Make you come here? What does that mean? You don't want to be at Beacon?"

 _Of course I don't want to be at Beacon you moron!_

Solus started laughing loudly, not a genuine laugh; more like the laugh of a slightly unhinged villain. "Oh? He didn't tell any of you? Hahahaha! Like I would _willingly_ be a student here! No, the only reason im at this pathetic school is because Ozpin is _paying_ me to be, or didn't you know about that little part of my life either? I'm a bounty hunter, I don't do things for free, and I don't do favours."

That shocked and disappointed the girls, well, it shocked Blake and disappointed Ruby and Yang. Being a hunter was considered to be one of, if not the most honourable things one can ever aspire to be in their life, hunters were looked up to as paragons of justice and peace. Bounty hunters on the other hand, they were considered the lowest of the low, scum who either weren't good enough to be a real hunter, or simply lacked the moral fiber. This image was not helped by people like Argentum Mortem who was known world wide by titles like 'The Mad Butcher' or 'Slayer of Independace' although, as far as everyone on Remnant was concerned, Mortem was dead, disapeared just after the Vacuo massacre.

"S-Solus? Why would you be a bounty hunter? Why not try to be a real hunter?" Ruby asked timidly, unsure if she really wanted to know the answer.

He sneered, what an idiodic suggestion. "Real hunters are few and far between, this place trains _children_ for battles they dont understand, and can't understand untill they've fought a _real_ battle." Spat the now very angry Solus.

Just as Solus finished saying that, they arrived at a bullhead sitting on a large circular platform. Solus got into the air vehicle being careful not to bump or jostle his damaged limb.

"All that aside, maybe it would be best if the rest of team RSYB went with you? It would not be safe for you to travel alone in your current condition." it was painfuly obvious to the merc that this was Ozpin's last ditch effort to keep Solus in his grasp.

The first things that came to mind for Solus to say were a wide varitry of obscenities that would make most grown men blush, but a quick smirk crossed his face as he declared, "Sure, hop abord. Let's go team RSYB!"

Ruby, thinking Solus was being nice and letting them go with him quickly jumped on the bullhead, dragging Yang and Blake with her.

Solus got into the cockpit and lifted the bullhead about 20 feet into the air, the main door was still open, so Ruby decided to yell out to the professor, "Don't worry sir, we'll be back before you know it!"

There was a snort of laughter from Solus as he violently twisted the joystick to the left, sending all the girls tumbling out of the ship and into a spraled heap just in front of Ozpin. "Well, we're back..." muttered Yang, angry at Solus but still seeing the irony.

The bullhead along with Solus roared off in the distance, leaving beacon, and the rest of RSYB behind. Suddenly Ozpins scroll buzzed, indicating a new message, it read: "I'll be back, but don't expect the bullhead to return with me."

The remains of RSYB were looking at Ozpin intently, but when with a look of supreme calm on his face, the professor gripped his coffee mug hard enough for it to shatter into a million little pieces, and again, with a look of supreme calm on his face Ozpin turned to the girls and smiled slightly. "Congratulations team RSYB, you and team PRWN have just been selected for your very first mission, to find Solus, and bring him back here."

* * *

Solus slowly faded into an uneasy sleep abord the autopilot driven bullhead...

 _A huge body clad in silver fidgeted in his seat abord the military dropship clasified as a 'pelican'._ _T_ _he silver beast was shockingly young, out the top of the armor poked the head of a 13 or 14 year old boy, with two deep blue eyes. Both of which_ _h_ _eld a gleam of cruel ruthlessness, but were currently showing more discomfort than anything._

" _S_ _top fidgeting!"_ _D_ _espite the harshness of the words themselves, the woman, or girl really, spoke them looked at_ _Argentum Mortem with a tenderness only born of years of companionship._

" _J_ _eez Kira, cut me some slack would you? Motion sickness is a real problem you know." the boy_ _declared as he held onto a disposible vomit bag, his face a slightly unhealthy shade of pale green._

 _Kira, the girl to whom he spoke, looked about 15 or 16, she had a hood obscuring most of her face, but she still had raven coloured hair gently flowing down her shoulders. Really, she was garbed in what most would assume a prists outfit_ _;_ _everything being a pure white, except for a ordanary looking pair of brown leather fingerless gloves._

" _Aren_ _'_ _t you meant to be the big bad 'Slayer of Independance' nowadays? And your defeated by motion sickness?" the older teen_ _commented, her lavender eyes idly flicking to her compainion._

 _Mortem snorted, his reputation had grown… but that battle had been a painful one. "_ _Slayer of Independance my ass! I only just made it out of there,_ _if you hadn't shown up afterwards then those Grimm would have gotten me. Not only_ _that, but some fucker cut off my hand too! Took me_ _ **hours**_ _to find it afterwards."_ _A_ _s he was saying this the boy had taken of his left gauntlet and was inspecking his mangled hand, it was missing the_ _little finger_ _, and all the other fingers sat at odd angles._

 _He was reasonably certain that it was his own hand though, there had been other appendages scattered around after all._

" _A_ _nd your own bloody fault it was too,_ _" the older teen sighed, used to their usual banter._ _"I_ _told you_ _I_ _should have went with you, but no, you just had to go and play general by yourself."_

 _Mortem smirked, so the big softy did care…_ _"_ _W_ _ell everything was going just fine until-"_

" _Enough!_ _" Kira snapped, quickly loosing interest in the topic of discussion._ _"I'_ _m done listening to you bitch and moan about loosing a hand and how much it hurt to reattach it. Now, do you even remember what job were on now or did your internal monologe take presidace again?"_

 _Seeing the blank look on the younger teens face, Kira_ _sighed._ _"_ _T_ _hose stupid Atlasians built some kind of android-"_

" _T_ _hey built a robot? Seriously? Nice."_ _H_ _e would have said more, but was slaped on the back of his head. Quite har_ _d too._

" _A_ _s I was saying before I was so_ _ **rudely**_ _interrupted, Atlas built a android_ _._ _T_ _hey tried to give it some kind of artificial aura but failed, so instead it now has built in laser cannons and can shoot blasts similar to you."_

" _Err… that's nice and all, but what does that have to do with us?"_

" _Well apparently it went apeshit killed a few people_ _then ran off, we have been tasked with killing it. Fortunately the scientists who built the android were smart enough to put a tracking chip in it, unfortunately, it likely knows we're coming."_

" _So just kill some tin man? That's it? I expected I bit more really._ _They hired both of us for gods sake, together we could probably kill any hunter on the planet." Although it wasn't said aloud, both knew what the end of that statement should have been._

 _Anyone except_ _her_ _._

 _After a few more minutes of idle conversation between the two bounty hunting partners, they arrived at their destination. Mortem jammed his Minotaur helmet onto his head, then leapt out of the pelican, Kira just shook her head with a small smile on her face then jumped out too._

 _The terrain was not unexpected, after all the signal from the android was coming from the Vytal badlands located almost in the exact middle point between Vacuo and Vale. The entire landscape was just sand, all in one vast desert. "I'll return when you give the all clear signal sirs!"_ _T_ _he previously silent pilot said as he pulled the dropship back into the air and blasted away without waiting for a reply._

 _The silver armour of Mortem gleamed brightly in the deserts hot sun, but he showed no outward signs of discomfort, "_ _H_ _ey Kira, where is the tin can? All I see is sand and roc-" Mortem couldn't finish what he was saying because a heavy boot crashed into the side of his helmet, sending hi_ _s massive frame_ _sprawling to the ground._

 _Kira lazily smirked, she knew her companion was fine_ _._ _I_ _nstead she looked over the being that the offending boot was attached to, it was a boy_ _and_ _he looked about 18 or 19_ _._ _H_ _e wasn't very intimidating as he was only about 5'9_ _;_ _he had pure black hair, and his eyes were and electric blue colour. He was wearing plain white test subject garbs._

" _I take that you're the android then?"_ _T_ _he only female pres_ _ent_ _asked confidently, her tone slightly mocking._

" _My designation is android 15, and you two are the infamous bounty hunters known as the Slayer of Independence and the Red Lady. You have been sent to deactivate me_ _._ _I cannot allow that to happen, prepare for your imminent termination." It was quite eerie; at no point did the machine show any emotion. At all._

 _Without any more warning, the machine charged forward tried to hit Kira a sword that had seemingly appeared from nowhere_ _._ _O_ _r at least he would have, if Mortem had jumped back into the fray_ _and charged the machine, hitting it with his shoulder sending it to the ground. Both Mortem and Kira leapt on this chance_ _;_ _both mercenaries flicked their wrists to reveal a hidden blade on each hand, then they tried to rush the android_ _and_ _stab him while he was down._

 _But it didn't work, because 15 had flipped backwards letting the bounty hunters stab sand, wasting no time the android brought his sword to bear and swung a horizontal slice that would kill or cripple the teens._

 _Kira jumped backwards, avoiding the cut with ease_ _._ _Mortem, even with his power armour increased speed was unable to completely get out of the way_ _._ _T_ _he sword scraped across the chest plate of the armour, leaving a trail of sparks and a very small gash in the metal._

 _Mortem attempted to bat the blade out of the way with his hands and monsterous strength_ _._ _I_ _t would have worked to, if he'd been fighting a real, living and breathing person. But he wasn't, the machine had immense strength, enough to keep the sword in place and even attempt to stab at Mortem. But Kira came in and saved the other teen just in time, she did a spectacular looking spin kick to the machines head_ _knocking it away._

" _Man, he's tougher than I thought he would be, how about we do this together?"_ _S_ _he_ _declared with supreme calm to her partner, seemingly not fazed by the blistering heat and the increadible strength of her opponent._

" _Eh, as long as we kill the fucker, he scratched my armour."_

 _Both bounty hunters charged at the now standing android, but the android jumped about 10 feet in the air, completely avoiding the teens. But they were undeterred, they both jumped after him_ _._ _Kira launched a vicious punch at the machine, but 15 caught it with his hand_ _._ _W_ _hile the machine was preoccupied,_ _M_ _ortem clasped both hands together and brought them down on 15's head_ _;_ _sending the machine spiralling to the ground_ _._

 _G_ _ravity soon caught up to the killers so they started falling rapidly, but they used it to their advantage_ _._ _T_ _hey attempted to stomp the fallen machine, but their feet were met with sand because 15 jumped flipped backwards, gaining about 10 feet distance._

 _The android raised his hands together and a thick blue beam shot forth at the teens_ _._ _Mortem responded in kind, cupping his hands together and shooting a_ _n absolutely black_ _beam of_ _aura_ _at the machine_ _._ _T_ _he_ _attacks_ _met in the middle, creating a brilliant_ _contrast between the charred black and the electric blue. B_ _oth combatants were struggling to over power the other, Kira was helping her partner by channelling some of her aura energy into him, giving him more power._

 _But it wasn't enough._

 _Even with the power boost from his advanced armour and his companion the androids beam was still_ _marginally_ _stronger than the teens, so Mortem_ _'_ _s energy was pushed back until 15s attack made contact with the armoured fighter_ _. A violent_ _explo_ _sion tore outwards_ _and sending both you_ _ng_ _killers flying back, Mortem was saved serious injury because of his armour_ _. Kira would have survived regardless, in terms of ability she far outclassed her partner._

 _Seeing an opportunity 15 leaped into the air to continue his assault, but in the nick of time the still flying Mortem raised his hand and blasted the android in the face_ _. T_ _he blast didn't connect, but it distracted the machine long enough for Kira to spring of the ground and punch the android hard in the face_ _;_ _sending it backwards._

 _15 quickly took control of his impromptu flight, and started flipping_ _across the ground as he_ _sho_ _t_ _blue balls of energy at Kira_ _. All of w_ _hich she deftly dodged as she continued to charge the machine, but when she got close enough, she was spun around by a hard back hand to the face, then sent to the ground by a severe elbow to the spine._

 _Mortem charged 15, the machine started throwing more blue balls of energy, and to his credit Mortem did dodge two of them, but the third on hit him in the middle of the stomach_ _;_ _sending him soaring backwards_ _._ _B_ _ut 15 wasn't done,; quick as a flash the android ran up to the still_ _flying mercenary_ _and_ _grabbed his leg,_ _then_ _in a show of insane strength_ _he_ _hurled Mortem through_ _a nearby boulder, shattering it in the process._

 _15 then jumped backwards trying to gain distance from the teen killers._

 _Both bounty hunters picked themselves up and slowly walked up to the android, leaving about 6 feet between them. "You cannot win, surrender, termination is inevitable." 15 said in perfect monotone._

 _Both teen's heads turned just slightly towards each other, they both gave a slight nod. Then Kira stepped behind Mortem and seemingly vanished, no trace of her could be seen from the android._

 _S_ _uddenly Mortem let out a mighty roar and jumped into the air and gave a mighty axe kick towards 15s head_ _._ _T_ _he machine tried to block it, but the kick was far stronger than humanly possible, so the kick stuck the machine in the face_ _forcing its head back. Mortem followed up with a insanely strong punch aimed for the solar plexus, but the fist was painfully slow, so 15_ _dodged_ _it_ _._

 _but what he wasn't counting on was kira suddenly appearing from behind Mortem_ _'_ _s back and kicking 15 hard in the ribs, and then following it up with a sharp hammer fist strike on the androids already flattened nose. Mortem then swept 15_ _'_ _s legs out from under him, the machine stumbled a bit before finding his footing and jumping as far away as possible from his would-be killers. But they were relentless, Kira threw a small grenade past the 15_ _;_ _it exploded outwards sending sand and dust into the air_ _._ _L_ _eaving the android unable to see,_ _pouncing_ _15_ _'_ _s weakness Mortem shoulder charged him, sending the machine sprawling to the ground_ _. W_ _ithout any hesitation, the_ _silver merc_ _started peppering the fallen body of android 15 with dozens of balls of energy._

 _This would have killed android 15 in seconds if Mortem was fresh and hadn't used any aura, but that wasn't the case. A silver hand reached up and grabbed one of Mortems arms and gave it a violent tug, pulling Mortem of balance and forcing him to stop shooting_ _lest he hit himself._

 _What came out of the ground hardly looked human anymore, 15 had lost all hair and almost all skin, it had glowing blue eyes and a completely silver face._

 _As Mortem was falling, 15 brought his knee up and delivered a brutal attack to the teen's ribs, easily denting the tough armour and_ _bruising_ _a few ribs as well._

 _Mortem moaned in_ _mild pain_ _and began to fall to the ground once again, but was stopped by 15 grabbing him by the top of the helmet stopping his momentum_ _._

 _G_ _lowing blue eyes stared into the glowing red eyes of Mortem for a moment, but then the machine raised his free hand to just in front of Mortems face_ _._ _A_ _huge blue blast exploded outwards, creating a huge crater and sending Mortem to an early grave with his head blown off._

 _Or at least that's what both other combatants thought anyway._

" _13!" Kira screamed in horror_ _._

 _That was the last thing Mortem heard before every thing went black and he knew no more._

 _Mortem was out for about 30 minutes, when he came to, the first thing he heard was_ _a metallic groan and gurgle._ _Obviously Kira had decided to stop playing, she must be torturing the machine to the best of her ability._

 _He_ _struggled to move, his helmet had been completely destroyed and blood was gushing out of a deep cut above the boys hairline_ _._ _blood was also poring out of his two deep blue eyes,_ _his vision marred by blurs and hazy outlines._

 _More_ _mechanical_ _screams. This time they were far louder and they were screams of absolute agony and torment. That gave Mortem the boost he needed to drag himself out of his crater and onto his feet, he wanted to watch as the foul android got a taste of its_ _own medicine._

 _The android was battered and broken, chunks of its body torn away and discarded into the sands around them. But that wasn't what got Mortem's attention, instead his eyes locked onto Kira._

 _She had one thin, shallow cut on her cheeck. Blood oozed out, and Mortems vision cleared up immediantly as the world came into sharp focus._

 _Android 15 must have heard Mortem move, because his head turned sharply in his direction_ _. I_ _f it was possible for a machine to show surprise, he did_ _._ _"impossible! You cannot be alive!"_ _T_ _he damaged robot declare_ _d._

 _Mortem saw Kira's eyes light up in surprise to see him alive, happiness obvious. But he as focussed on the cut on her cheek._

 _Mortem saw red._

" _I AM JAUNE ARC, THE LAST GREAT ARC WARRIOR, YOU ARE_ _ **NOTHING**_ _BUT A TIN CAN! AND I WILL_ _ **KILL**_ _YOU FOR HURTING HER!"_ _E_ _nraged Mortem roared with unholy fury._

 _The injured teen charged forward and put his hand_ _ **through**_ _15_ _'_ _s stomach, then with look of sadistic glee and madness on his face_ _he_ _retracted his hand from the gaping android_ _._ _Mortem grabbed 15s arm, and again with roar of madness, tore the arm of the crippled machine. Sending the rest of the machine backwards onto the ground with Mortem still clutching the severed arm._

 _Suddenly it all caught up with the teen, and he fell to his knees, panting for air. He slowly dragged himself towards where Kira_ _stood._ _"_ _Y_ _ou-you're alive! I thought you were dead for sure!_ _Don't EVER do that again you idiot!_ _" she yelled_ _furiously._

 _S_ _he went to hug him, but suddenly a silver hand comedown on his shoulder, pulling him back, forcing him onto the ground._

 _The one armed figure of 15 loomed above Mortem. "Jaune Arc, last of the Arcs, let me teach you a lesson- do on to others as you would have done on to yourself."_

 _15 suddenly gripped Mortems arm tightly, and then stared pulling._

 _Screaming in pain, the teenager tried his best to keep his mind together as he felt muscle and bone being crushed and torn by the android._

 _Muscle and flesh began to tear as 15 was pulling away. Desperately Mortems free hand shot out grasping the silver arm of 15, a pained scream came again as Mortem desperately fought to save the limb. It was when 15 brought his foot up, pressing against Mortems shoulder and pushing. Pulling violently along with his arm finally gained enough leverage and strength to do the vile deed._

 _ **N**_ _ **o!**_ _ **N**_ _ **o!**_ _ **P**_ _ **lease! My arm! Stop!**_ _T_ _he boy thought desperately._

 _The sound of ripping flesh finally was the only thing that Mortem could hear, his bone made a dozen cracking noises, before there was a snap and a pop. Muscle and fat were ripped and finally the limb came free as a swell of blood splatter from the stump near his shoulder._

 _The limb was casually tossed in front of him, blood pooling around it._

 _Mortem shuddered and collapsed to the ground, the scream of agony that echoed out was overwhelming, all consuming._

 _But he needent have worried, less than a second later 15 was crushed into a ball about the size of a tennis ball._

 _Kira stood, her eyes blazing in utter fury and rage. Her arms still outstretched from using her semblance._

 _The last thing he heard was kira screaming onto the radio for evac._

 _Mortem then proceeded to pass out from blood loss and pain._

 **A/N**

 **Looks like Solus was disarmed!**

 **Eh?**

 **EH?!**

 **I thought it was funny...**

 **I'** **m thinking that I need to rewrite the description because the curr** **e** **nt one is kind of crappy… so if anyone would be kind enough to help or even send their own that would be awesome.**

 **Oh! And the Schnee challenge is still going encase anyone is wondering,**

 **Moving on…**

 **Ok even though I PM'ed everyone I could that left a review for my little pity party** **I'** **m going to also answer their comments here as well because… well there's information people might find interesting…**

 **Lord Of Greed 90:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Thank you for your kind words and for taking the time to leave a review.**

 **daved134:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **T** **hank you, it would be wonderful if I heard from you every chapter.**

 **And will Blake find out… yes. And well…** **I'** **m sure you can imagine how that would go…**

 **gusbot3000:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **E** **h don't worry about the lack of reviews, I've always struggled to generate attention for anything I've written.  
** **I'** **m similar to you in regard to not really feeling inclined to review rewrites (unless there is a major difference).  
** **T** **ruthfully there aren't really any huge differences in what** **I** **wrote until about chapter 17 (which I had never released anyway...) but there are a few subtle changes... like what the doctor was saying to Ozpin. and if** **I'** **m entirely honest then** **I** **think im trying to be far more clever than** **I** **actually am... because by about chapter 15 ish if one were to connect the dots they could perhaps work out one of the TWO very different endings for Jaune's life.  
But enough of that borderline spoiler talk.  
Thank you again for leaving a review.**

 **Nik41:**

 **Thank** **s** **for reviewing** **.** **  
And I'd like to think of this incarnation of the story being the semi-perfect form. Leaves room for improvement you see.  
And greetings from Tasmania**

 **Melfice-sama:**

 **Thank** **s** **for reviewing** **.** **  
I actually agree with you in regards to the name stuff.** **I** **tend to dislike it when a characters name is completely replaced with something else. But in this case it was necessary for the plot, if you take a good long look at Jaune Arc** **'** **s character can you really imagine him doing what he did at fort Independence? No it would take some pretty radical changes to his mind and how he see's the world for him to do anything on that scale. And on a final note: for Jaune to go by his name, he'd have to remember it wouldn't he?**

 **Green Gustavo:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.** **  
And don't worry about not reviewing before;** **I** **can understand having a busy life.** **And yes... it is good that Ozpin is trying to determine who Jaune really is, whether it's good for Jaune or not remains to be seen.**

 **Guest:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Perhaps Solus is a bit OP but only compared to other students. If he were to try and fight one of the professors then he would loose. Badly.**

 **And eh… I just don't know… some people do seem to enjoy the story (as seen with the reviews) but I suspect that something about the story is just unappealing to quite a few people. Maybe it's the description? Maybe it's just my writing style… I don't know.**

 **Wanderer:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **I** **'** **m glad you find the different elements of the story interesting, particularly his past, I put quite a bit of thought into Jaune's life, its not going to be what it seems, there is a major twist coming up, something that will help explain why Jaune is the way he is.**

 **Guest:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Jaune has been through a lot, certainly enough to break a person. In one of the later chapters Jaune even admits to himself that he is hardly a shadow of what he could have been, although to be fair, the state of his body isn't** _ **entirely**_ **his fault. And yeah, having the others on team RSYB know that Solus isn't his real name is going to be a bit of an issue for everyone a little bit later…**

 **And remember that as Argentum Mortem Jaune did some pretty terrible things… reactions will be mixed when they find out.**

* * *

 **So what did you guys think of this chapter? It explains how Jaune lost his arm… it introduces early version of penny… kinda… and most importantly it introduces one of the single most important people that were ever in Jaune's life: Kira. Although it does raise the question of where she is now.**

 **EDIT: 26/7/2016 Just fixing things...**

 **But enough of my rambling. Leave a review!**


	10. A Friend Lost

Edge of life

Chapter nine

A Friend Lost

Solus was floating idly in a tank of thick pale blue liquid, and he was trying his absolute hardest not to scratch his insufferably itchy right shoulder. He had gotten to his little cave/complex near the ruins of his old home town Dorme, and the first thing he had down was head down to the medical wing to get his arm fixed, and oh boy had that been painful, he refused to let his auto doc operate on him without him being conscious, so he had sat there fully awake as the robot had sliced his arm open with a scalpel and started pulling melted and destroyed robotics out. Then to his great displeasure, the useless robotic doctor informed him that his bio gel layer had been completely destroyed.

Bio gel was interesting stuff, costs an absolute fortune for even a few drops of it, but Solus had once been incredibly rich from his time as the Slayer of Independence, and had spent a huge amount of money to get large amounts of the stuff. See, the reason he needed it was because having an almost entirely cybernetic upper right arm was fine for civilians, but for combatants? It would the end of their life as they knew it. Simply because machines can't channel any significant amount of aura, but bio gel can. The gel was organic in nature, and as such aura can pass through it as easily as normal muscle, meaning unlike the cybernetics the gel could be 'healed' by Solus's aura, providing that the damage wasn't too extensive. But, it still wasn't as good as the real thing; the application of the stuff was what most would describe as agonizingly _itchy._ Also having to float around in a glass tank for a few hours was incredibly boring.

The bullhead that Solus had… borrowed… was long gone by now, Solus wasn't stupid enough to keep the flying death trap, Ozpin almost certainly had tracking devices installed in it. Hell, Solus had a suspicion that the (in his opinion) nutty headmaster had put a tracking device on him somewhere. But that was ok for the time being, the facility that Solus was currently in was originally a laboratory run by one very insane very cruel (and now very dead) doctor Stanis Braun, that vile excuse for a human being had given Solus his very first alias- subject 13, Braun had done all manner of psychological tortures on fifty kids, all just because he wanted the perfect army. Braun had wanted a legion of soldiers trained from childhood to be merciless killers. he had gotten what he wanted, so to speak. The lab was filled with all kinds of jamming equipment, some from Braun, some from Solus. To most people it would be impossible to find the place without having prior knowledge of it, and Ozpin did know about this place, he knew that it had existed once. But he, along with every other world power that had searched for Braun was under the impression that the entire facility and all its secrets had been utterly destroyed.

But even without the twisted memories Solus had of this place he hated it. Every moment he spent in the facility Solus felt like his guts were twisting in an uncomfortable fashion, and every breath of air he took filled him with dread and near terror. All because _**she**_ was here, they were _**all**_ here. He could hear the unspoken accusations whenever he wandered the empty lifeless halls. He could hear the screams for help and screams of rage even though silence was all that ever permitted the aging metal walls.

But still Solus came here, to his only refuge. Because he needed to. And Solus always liked to think he did what was necessary. Although if he was being entirely truthful Solus admitted to himself that the only way he could tolerate being in the facility was if he forced his mind onto other things, like that getting money. Or messing with Ozpin.

Solus smirked behind his breath mask when he thought of Ozpin sending people on a likely worldwide hunt for just a bullhead.

* * *

Ruby studied the glowing blue map before her intently, she was in a circular room with a large holo projector in the center, currently it was showing a worldwide map of Remnant, and there were one glowing red dot on the screen, it was in the ocean between Vale and Mistral, some tropical island that was too small for any kind of civilisation. The dot represented Solus, and oh boy was Ruby worried about him.

Ruby was concerned about her partner because she was sure that when he left he was hurt and in pain, and thus wasn't thinking straight, he needed help that was for sure, he may not be the nicest of men, but he had saved her, that coupled with what Ozpin had said about him had left the short silver eyed girl feeling quite protective about the grumpy merc.

the sound of a door opening alerted Ruby that someone had entered the mission prep room to see her, with a glance she saw it was Pyrrha, leader of team PRWN walked over to the younger red headed girl then spoke softly "Ruby im glad we have a chance to talk before the mission briefing begins, I wanted to ask you about your wayward partner."

Rubys silver eyes finally left the holographic map and locked with the green ones of Pyrrha "im worried about him, he's hurt and confused and…"

Ruby was silenced when the champion sighed quietly then put a hand on her shoulder "Ruby I understand your concern about your partner, but there are some things you need to know, that look Solus has in his eye, ive seen it before, in my father actually"

"I don't understand"

"well many years ago, my father was a hunter of great skill, he led his teams on many successful hunts, but over time he suffered… losses… of loved ones and family. In the end he was barley a shell of the man he once was. Life had been harsh and unforgiving. It aged him. I think that he was just tired of it all, tired of the constant struggle." The taller red head paused to compose herself "Solus is similar I think. Much more guarded, but when I met him before initiation, I could tell that he was a weary soul. So I think he needs all the help we can give him."

Images of the look in the Lonely Wanderers eye flashed through the younger girls mind, a look of such depression and defeat that it was almost painful to look at. "i… think your right, but I think he's been hurt before, and we both know just how dangerous he can be, so I don't think the direct approach will work."

"you know after we were sent off the cliff by the headmaster I ran as fast as I could toward where I thought he landed, I wanted to be his partner, but im glad you with him now Ruby, I probably would have coddled him too much if I were with him, but I-" she was cut off by the door opening and the rest of teams RSYB and PRWN walking in and sitting down on the rooms many chairs.

Ruby gave Pyrrha a 'finish it later' kind of look then turned to her teammates and friends "right! Umm…. So we have our first mission, we, err, need to track down Solus, he's hurt and probably not thinking straight and we need to find him!"

Everyone went to speak at once, but it was the voice of Weiss that came over top "and why would we want to find that uncivilized brute?! I think it would be best if we just left him out there!"

Ruby and Pyrrha gave the snotty heiress fierce glares that shut her and the others up instantly. "this isn't a discussion" the normally calm Pyrrha hissed "he is hurt and confused, he may be violent, so we need to find him as soon as possible"

Ruby continued the Spartans speech seamlessly "and that being the case we thought it best if we pooled what we know about his fighting style. Any one want to comment?"

It was Blake that spoke first "disregarding the… blasts… that he can create, he seems to favour hand to hand combat."

"oh! And he has those knives attached to his wrists! Those looked pretty lethal!" Yang interjected

Surprisingly enough it was Ren who spoke next "he seems to carry a sword around, but it appears low quality, but I have never seen him use it." And Ren was right, the sword that Solus had perpetually strapped on his back did seem poorly made, it was wrapped in tattered brown leather and almost none of the actual metal was visible.

Pyrrha looked at her partner and gave a slight smile "yes good point Ren, I don't think he ever used it during any point in initiation, Ruby, you've spent the most time with him, have you seen him use it?"

"hmmm… no…when I first partnered up with him it looked like he had just cleared out a pack of beowolves, but I didn't see any large cuts or gashes that a sword would make, maybe he used his wrist blades?"

"I think we're forgetting something here!" said the finally useful Weiss "that power he used to kill the deathstalker and the nevermore, it was… unreal, surely that can't be his semblance?"

Surprisingly it was Blake who answered "no, I don't think it was his semblance, I noticed that whenever he blasted something it came from a small crystal of some sort in the glove."

"as for his semblance, it must be some kind of strength modifier, perhaps speed as well, but I know it should be impossible for any normal man to be stronger than the stinger of a deathstalker." Pyrrha said

Ozpin strode into the room confidently, coffee mug in one hand and cane in the other "enough, we have tracked him to the tropical island of Kysar, its between Vale and Mistral, you seven will need to bring him back here as soon as possible."

The teens all nodded in acceptance then shuffled out of the room.

Glynda Goodwitch walked up behind Ozpin and spoke softly yet sharply "honestly Ozpin, I don't understand what you were thinking when you brought the boy here, he'll cause nothing but trouble."

The elder man took a slow sip of his coffee "what was I thinking? I thought I saw a soul akin to my own, I saw something of myself in him, I saw a means to an end."

* * *

1 day later

The girls plus Ren were just approaching the island of Kysar on a bullhead, it was a tiny little island, really it was just a little mountain sticking out of the ocean, it wasn't even a high mountain, just a big hill really. But what was interesting was the boat docked near a small metal structure that jutted out near the waters edge.

Both teams jumped out of the airship when it got close enough, they landed on the small boat, which rocked violently at the sudden weight, and before the student hunters could say anything a loud voice boomed out over the island "hey you stupid kids! Stay right where you are!" it wasn't the gravely rough voice of Solus, the speaker sounded distinctly older.

And soon enough that was proven true when a man who looked to be about 40 with a great big shaggy beard, he was wearing a stained red coat and a tatty leather hat. Flanking the bearded man were two younger looking guys, both had a distinctly seedy look about them, this image wasn't helped by the fact that all three men had several pairs of hand cuffs on their belts.

"well luck just isn't on your side today is it kiddies? Clap 'em in irons boys, they will make fine slaves." The coated man said.

One of the goons drew the cuffs from his belt and moved towards Yang with a lecherous grin, and not once did his eyes ever travel above her neck.

"yeah, no" Yang grunted as she punched the poor fool into the ocean "listen we're looking for our… friend… Solus and we know he's here! So give him to us and we might not tell anyone about your little slave business!" that last part was completely false, there was no chance in hell that she, or the others would let these slavers run free.

"yeah! And if you've hurt him we'll break your legs!" yelled an enthusiastic Ruby

The leader, showing no outward reaction to seeing one of his men flung into the ocean, just stroked his beard mockingly and said "Solus eh? Never heard of him" just as he was finishing his statement, he pulled a small remote from his beard and pressed the little red button.

Suddenly 40 plus men streamed from the doors the other slavers had arrived from before, these newcomers had a motley collection of weapons, ranging from swords to guns. The bearded slaver jumped into the crowd and seemingly disappeared.

"great! I don't suppose we have a plan to deal with this!?" said the snotty Weiss as she and the others drew their weapons.

There was just a beat of silence before Nora screamed out a mighty "NORA SMASH! HEHEHEHE!" and promptly started crushing and hammering at the slavers before her.

"Excellent plan!" yelled Ruby as she to joined the fray.

All the others just sighed then started mowing down the stupid attackers.

Although the pirates had the advantage number wise, they didn't stand a chance against the hunters to be and were thoroughly wiped out by the teens in about 5 minutes of solid fighting.

After the fight was over Yang called out "who got beard face? I wanted a piece of him!"

Nobody said anything, each looking at the others to see whom fought the bearded slaver.

"but… then who got-" Yang started

But was suddenly cut off by the roar of a bullhead coming up behind them. The teens looked at the aircraft and saw the beacon logo "that's the bullhead that Solus took!" Ruby exclaimed her eyes shifted towards the cockpit hoping to see Solus there but instead she saw the grubby beared slaver smirking at her.

"ya stupids kids thought you could catch me? Well think again!" he called out over the airships megaphone.

The pirate waved small silver remote with a big red button at them, and with a smirk he pressed the button and then turned and flew away.

The second the button was pressed a screeching wail came out of the base's speakers. The wail only lasted about 30 seconds, but by the time it was over the bullhead was long gone.

An ominous rumble echoed over the island and gently rocking boat the teens were on each of the hunters to be looked alarmed, but that alarm turned to horror when they saw what sprung from the water.

It was huge; a completely black looking creature that resembled a octopus or squid, except this beast had innuramble tentacles and was far, far worse.

It was an SS class water Grimm

It was a Kraken

 **A/N**

 **I am interested to see what people think of Solus and the facility he's in, what was it I wrote…? Oh that's right "every breath of air he took filled him with dread and near terror. All because** _ **she**_ **was here, they were** _ **all**_ **here."**

 **So yeah, im curious to see what people make of that. Although I will say right now, there is no supernatural element to this story, no ghosts, no spirits or anything like that.**

 **Moving on… finally someone has completed the 'Schnee challenge' as it were, granted they had been trying for awhile and it took a fair bit of prodding on my part, but they managed it. So good for them!**

 **But im still curious to see if other people can work it out, why does Solus hate the Schnee family so much? Go on, guess.**

 **Now onto the reviews…**

 **chronical199:**

 **thank you man, its people like you that make me want to continue this story.**

 **Green Gustavo:**

 **Back story is always fun isn't it? You got even more this chapter, although in hindsight what I've written for this chapter doesn't actually explain anything about the origin of Solus does it? If anything it raise's even more questions…**

 **And yeah, when I first wrote Solus "getting rid of" everyone else last chapter I had a bit of a laugh.**

 **Nik41:**

 **No, Kira didn't die there. But to say she is alive is wrong, equally to say that she is dead would be wrong. Its complicated, really I'd say that her being alive or not is open to interpretation…**

 **And as callous as this sounds (you may not like it) almost everything that ever was 'Jaune Arc' died in Vacuo.**

 **gusbot3000:**

 **the flash back is infact slightly longer, just a few little things, only about 100 words I think. And yes, I fully intend to get to chapter 17 and beyond, if I don't for whatever reason, I plan to PM you and few others the full details of the story and plot right the way to the end.**

 **And oh my god… you have no clue just how** _ **funny**_ **you are! Yang would love you, your skills at accidently making puns is awesome. "** Thank you for responding to my review and giving me an insight as to what could happen in the future. **" All that punny goodness…**

 **thelastcenturion2015:**

 **yes, that is the story on how Solus got the cybernetic upper arm. But it doesn't explain any of his other injuries does it?**

 **Thank you again to everyone that reviewed, it warms my heart that people read my crap.**

 **so please leave a review, let me know what you think of this new chapter, im want to know what your opinions are.**


	11. Recognized

Edge of life

Chapter ten

Recognized

There were lots of things Solus didn't like in life, but one thing he hated above _almost_ everything else was not knowing secrets. Its not that he liked to hoard information or anything, it's just that he knows that if people die if they don't know the things that they should.

That's why Solus had a hunters radio with him most of the time, normally there wasn't anything terribly interesting, the occasional chatter and banter. But right now? there was something which both amused and pissed off the merc to no end.

Solus was just cruising through the decimated towns on the outer edges of the kingdom when a familiar voice rang out inside the jeep "mayday! Mayday! This is trainee hunter teams PRWN and RSYB and we- *sounds of an explosion and gunfire* -elp! Our bullhead was shot down and there's-" the transmission is covered by static for a moment "Kysar and-" more static "Kraken!"

Solus slammed the breaks of his jeep sending dust and dirt into the air. _"Kysar!?"_ the merc thought incredulously to himself _"I sold that bloody bullhead on the black market, it should have gone to one of the other kingdoms not some puny little island in the middle of nowhere-"_ the thought was cut off abruptly when he realized what must of happened "that filthy slaving scum bought the bullhead!" the hunter exclaimed aloud.

That lead Solus to two possible conclusions: one, the slaver had somehow captured them and set his 'pet' on them as sport. Or two, the young hunters to be had disrupted his operations enough he had decided just to run away and let the Kraken deal with the problem.

Either way, not good for Solus.

This wasn't what Solus had in mind when he'd sold the bullhead, he had thought that the young hunters would just have a huge wast of time by doing a world trip looking for him, but this? This wasn't what he planned.

And as amusing as it would be to just leave them to die at the hands of the SS class Grimm would be, Solus just couldn't do it. Its not because he cared for any of them, no nothing quite so petty, its because he had finally realized why he had felt intrigued by Ruby when had started seen her. its because he _recognized_ her. or more precisely, he recognized her _eyes_.

And Solus always repaid his debts. Always.

So he can't just leave them (her) out there to die at the hands of that overgrown squid.

Solus slammed his foot down on the accelerator, but he swung the jeep around and headed towards the nearest place he could get a bullhead.

* * *

This was not how Ruby had wanted her first mission to turn out, it was supposed to be her and the others heroically going off to save the injured Solus and upon finding him they were meant to come on back to beacon where Solus would be happy and grateful for their help.

But reality reared its ugly head at the girl as she noted that the mission had turned out nothing like that. At all.

It had started out so well too, drop in, beat up a few crooks and beat the bad guy, but then that bearded bastard had to go and set a massive Grimm on them then fly away. There was absolutely zero chance of them killing this Grimm, it was an SS class, the highest calibre of Grimm. Nevermores and deathstalkers were only C class, and compared to this monstrosity they were Childs play.

They couldn't even escape anymore, Ruby had called for evac from their bullhead they arrived in. but the pilot had gotten a fraction too close to the water and had been smashed by the Kraken. So all Ruby could do was call (scream more like) over the radio for help. And that had been nearly an hour ago, and no help had come. Things were looking pretty bleak for Ruby and her fellow trainees.

The assembled teens dodged franticly as a monstrously large tentacle made a mad swipe at them, all the girls found footing atop one of the slimy appendages but Ren slipped as he landed and flailed helplessly for a moment, he was just about to fall when Pyrrha grabbed him by his expensive looking overcoat and lifted him atop the tentacle to stand beside the others, well attempt to stand on the moving appendage anyway.

Ruby felt a little guilty when Pyrrha took command of the whole group leaving the younger red head left out "okay everyone stick with your partners! Try and find a weak point that we can use! And just stay alive until help arrives!" It wasn't a bad plan; not really, Ruby only disliked it because it left her alone.

Everyone scattered when Pyrrha finished her commands, even Ruby, but while the others moved about the beast like flies, Ruby moved away, she needed distance for her sniper.

So with semblance enhanced speed Ruby jumped from tentacle to tentacle moving back towards the island, as she landed on the final tentacle before land the beast jerked all its appendages violently which sent poor Ruby face planting on Kysar's surface. The Kraken, seeing its chance to kill one of the annoying humans sent one of its slimy appendages crashing to the ground where Ruby is.

Ruby was too dazed from her fall to see the danger coming, so she just sat there. But just as the beast was about to crush and kill the girl a sudden explosion next to her sent the red head flying out of the kill zone and just out of the Krakens reach. When Ruby finally regained her senses she looked around to see who shot her *cough* saved her. all the girl saw was the others uselessly trying to fight the massive Grimm.

Going back to her previous plan Ruby started using her precious scythe to help her climb the base of the mountain. When she got to about 20ish meters up she stopped and knelled down as to use some rocks to steady her aim.

It only took a second of the girl looking through her scope to feel utterly dismayed, not only by how the ridiculously but not unexpectedly one-sided battle was going, but by her fellow hunters-in-training.

Pyrrha and Ren, their moves going seamlessly together to create effective teamwork, the normally stoic boy shooting on from afar and the champion acting as a distraction and taking the heavier hits.

Nora and Weiss, despite their horribly clashing personalities they knew when to get their crap together and work hard. The ever exited hammer wielding girl mercilessly hitting away at the beast so that the frosty heiress could find a weak point with her precise rapier.

Yang and Blake, regardless of contradicting natures, were fighting as if they've been partners for years, the buxom blond would charge in and try to smack the Grimm around a bit, and the mysterious ravenette would dance around attacking the openings Yang created.

" _but what do I have?_ " Ruby thought miserably _"I wasn't even good enough for my partner! He just up and left because I was so bad!"_ it was all her fault, her fault Solus left, her fault they came to this island, and her fault they'd die on this island.

Ruby just felt so… useless, she thought she'd be good enough for beacon, that she could become a hunter and slay Grimm like a hero.

But she couldn't. every time she's been in any kind of trouble Solus has been there to bail her out, when she'd first met Weiss and was laying dejected on the ground Solus had been there and (albeit somewhat unwillingly) led her to where she was meant to go.

When she'd been pinned by the Nevermore and about to be killed by the Deathstalker Solus had come to her rescue- getting gravely wounded in the process. And when she and the others had been trying to take out the Nevermore, Solus had just blasted out of existence like it was nothing.

But what had she done? Almost nothing, she'd bugged him and followed him around like a lost puppy.

And now her sister and all her new friends would die because of her failures.

With tears gushing from her eyes Ruby peered down the scope of her beloved sniper scythe once again, within seconds she started firing the high impact rounds into the Kraken, shooting at whatever targets presented themselves. Mostly it was the beasts beady little red eyes in the center mass of the Grimm, this seemed to do the most damage.

Infact it seemed like Ruby was the only one causing any damage at all, it appeared that all the blades the huntress's in training were using were doing little to nothing, only tiny cuts marred the beasts tentacles, even Nora and Yang's impressive weapons were doing next to nothing. And none of the others firearms possessed the armour piercing effect that Ruby's did.

And Ruby was the only one whom could get a clear shot at the head of the Kraken, all the others were occupied with the abundant amount of slimy appendages trying to crush or impale them on the sharpened white bone each tentacle had at its tip.

suddenly Yang was slapped at least 15 meters into the air by one of the tentacles, this wasn't really a problem for the blond, or it wouldn't have been a problem if Blake was battered aside, leaving her unable to aid her partner, and a bunch of the slimy appendages clumped together with the razor sharp bone tips pointed upwards ready to impale the blonde as she landed. There was no way she could escape, Yang was doomed to die.

Ruby saw all this through the scope of her darling sniper rifle, and realized she was the only one who could save her sister. _"I gotta save her!"_ girl thought furiously.

Ruby leapt out of her sniper perch, and with semblance enhanced speed the young reaper unfolded her scythe and sprinted towards yang leaving a few rose petals to float gently to the ground behind her.

Just as Yang was about to meet the bone spikes, Ruby leapt in and hooked the clump of tentacles with her scythe and using the centrifugal force swung around them, in the process dragging them just far enough for Yang to fall into the water below and not find an early death.

Ruby kept swinging and swinging around the tentacles until, finally, the scythe sliced right through the appendages, something none of the others had been able to do as of yet.

The beast thrashed around in the water and let out a terrible roar of pain, the sound was enough to dismay anything living in area, including the young hunters.

The Kraken lifted itself higher out of the water, its center mass and 'face' becoming more prominent as it did so. All the hunters to be were forced to jump off the moving mass of tentacles as it did so, putting them all on the beach of the island.

The Kraken slowly opened its mouth, at first it looked like nothing was happening, but all of a sudden a glowing ball of black fire took shape, then with yet another terrible roar the fire shot forth, not as a ball, but as a solid beam of fiery death.

Everyone scattered, Ruby didn't have time to track where they went, she was to busy trying not to be roasted alive by the hellfire being shot towards her. And hellfire it was, everything the flame touched was instantly turned to red hot glowing glass, if even a few flecks of this fire touched any of the young hunters in would burn through their aura like tissue paper and then kill them almost instantly.

As Ruby was moving she thought she heard a sound, a familiar low droning kind of sound, but she couldn't quite place what it was. Disregarding it as irrelevant, the girl re-focused on the task at hand.

Ruby looked beside her, Nora had moved in the same direction as her, and was running as fast as possible away from the beast "Nora!" Ruby yelled "come on! Lets hit in the mouth it so it cant shoot like that again!" Nora looked at the young reaper for a moment and then started strafing towards the Kraken while carefully avoiding the fire, Ruby followed suit, charging at the beast with all her might, if she could do this she could save her friends, she could make up for leading them into this death trap in the first place!

But fate was not on her side today, the Grimm saw the girls coming, and slapped them back onto the beach hard enough to leave both red heads dazed and confused.

When Ruby's senses returned to her she looked up and saw only a wall of black fire approaching her, there was no time to move, this was it. This was the end of the line for Ruby. The fire moved ever closer, but it all seemed to be in slow motion, Ruby's closed her eyes and her entire life flashed before her, from being such a small child who loved cookies and strawberry's being dotted on by her mother Summer Rose, to growing up with Yang, going to Signal the first time, meeting her friends there, stopping the robbery and getting into Beacon, initiation, loosing Solus, coming to this dust forsaken island, and finally charging the Kraken.

A small smile appeared on her face, if this was her end, then Ruby Rose would die smiling.

 **A/N**

 **Cliff-hangers suck ass I know, but I just** _ **had**_ **to do one at some point, I mean what Fanfiction writer doesn't?**

 **Finally we're getting to the parts on how Solus recognizes Ruby! There wasn't much on it this chapter but the next two chapters will touch on it a bit more. And does anyone care to guess how Solus feels indebted to Ruby?**

 **So im starting to get the feeling that most people don't read through the notes at the end of every chapter, meaning they don't get my reply's to their reviews. So as of this chapter I will send a PM to everyone (that I can) who reviews and answer any questions they may have asked. Although I'll probably still answer in at the end of chapters as well.**

 **Anyway onto reviews…**

 **NinjaFang1331:**

 **When I first started writing this story a came to a bit of an impasse, I quite like Jaune's character, but I wanted to write a story that is in sharp contrast with many if not all of the other Jaune central stories on this site. Something ive been trying to really force on the readers is that in this story Jaune isn't a hero, if someone is in trouble and needs help he wont care. If someone dies he wont care. He is a self serving amoral asshole that only fights for himself. To be frank, at no point will Solus ever make a complete 360 with his attitude. With where he is now as a character he hardly even remembers that he used to be Jaune arc.**

 **Nik41:**

 **Answered by PM.**

 **daved134:**

 **getting a bit ahead of ourselves aren't we?**

 **Green Gustavo:**

 **the fight did indeed get a little fishy! Eh? Eh? Yeah you get it!**

 **Anyway um… no, to be frank, Yang has literally zero chance of being able to beat the Kraken. At most id rank Yang and the others around D or E class hunters, with Solus coming in at B+ or A- class. Im not trying to make her underpowered or anything just proportionate, the nevermore from initiation was C class so it stands to reason that Yang and the others would have to be lower ranked since they had to work together to take it down. Unlike Solus who basically just bitch-slapped it into oblivion.**

 **The American Wolf** **:**

 **Yeah your right, I think the original version of this story got to about chapter 13 or 14.**

 **...**

 **So let me know what you think! Leave a review, send me a PM, doesn't matter which.**


	12. A Debt Repaid

Edge of life

Chapter eleven

A Debt Repaid

Death never found Ruby as those flames rushed towards her, after a few moments with her eyes closed waiting for the scorching flames to find her, Ruby felt nothing. No burning heat and no cold embrace of death. Her eyes flickered open, and what she saw astounded the girl.

She saw Solus.

Solus stood before her, in his hand was a beautiful sword shining with pure silver light, he held the blade downwards and into the fires. And the flame just… parted before his sword, creating a massive v shape and leaving all within untouched by the hellfire.

Ruby was still gaping in awe at Solus when his head turned towards her and he shouted "go! Both of you Get on the bullhead! I'll follow as fast as I can!" His eye flicker upwards towards the aforementioned bullhead.

It was then that Ruby realized that Nora was on the ground next to her, and would have died with Ruby if Solus had not come to their rescue. And it would have been all Ruby's fault. The girl whimpered and slumped down even further.

Nora was already up and moving away from Solus, it the thought didn't even cross her mind that Ruby hadn't moved with her.

"Ruby!" Solus's shout shook the girl from her despair "go… _please"_

Instantly Ruby jumped into action, not because of the words, but because of the look on his face, it was the same expression of utter despair and defeat that she'd seen from the picture in Ozpins office. Instantly Ruby went to move towards Solus but he kicked her back. His hands were shaking from holding the sword, and the blade was starting to glow red, smoke was also beginning to rise from where his exposed fingers were holding the handle of the majestic sword.

"Ruby! I-I can't do this forever! Just go! I'll be _fine!_ " he screamed at the girl

Hesitantly Ruby took a step back, she glanced back at the bullhead which was a safe distance away, all the others were onboard, even Nora whom obviously just got on, everyone was shouting their names and beckoning for Ruby, she took a step towards it, then she turned her head back to Solus and yelled "don't you _dare_ die!"

And then she sprinted, faster than she's ever gone before, faster than she thought possible, all the way up the mountain/hill and leapt into the bullhead.

Yang caught her and immedently started crushing her in a rib breaking hug.

"Good she's onboard we can leave this blasted island now!" Weiss implored much to the others disgust

Instantly everyone started shouting at the heiress, but the voice that carried over the others came from, surprisingly, Ren "no! We wont leave him, he came to our rescue and we will _not_ leave him" the last part was hissed venomously at the girl in white

"He's the reason we came here in the first place! We should just leave him!" the girl shot back

In less than a second a hand shot out and punched Weiss square in the nose, catching her off guard and sending her sprawling to the floor. Surprisingly the hand was Ruby's, the 15 year old looked absolutely _furious_ and she spat out to the now bleeding/unconscious heiress "maybe we should leave _you_!"

There was just a beat of silence, everybody was shocked that Ruby, the cute little 15 year old had spoken such spiteful words and knocked Weiss out cold.

But the silence was fleeting "Ren!" Ruby barked out "get this thing off auto-pilot and get us as close as you can."

The pink eyed boy nodded and moved towards the cockpit.

Everybody else except the knocked out Schnee turned and looked out the open hatch to see how their saviour was doing.

Solus ducked under another tentacle swipe, he had jumped out of the line of fire as soon as Ruby was far enough away, and now Solus was trying to avoid being crushed/stabbed/roasted by the very pissed off Kraken.

The bounty hunter wasn't just wearing a hoodie any more, he was wearing a leather jacket that he'd… acquired along with the bullhead from the Valean military base he'd broken into. And on his back was the scabbard/shield of Crocea Mors, still wrapped in tatty brown leather so no one could identify the famous weapon.

And in the teens right hand was the sword itself, the handle was covered in the same crappy leather, but the blade shone brilliantly in the sun, even century's after its creation the sword showed itself to be a masterwork.

In the bounty hunters left hand was a blocky looking assault rifle that was spiting out dust based death every time one of the tentacles of the mighty Grimm got too close for comfort.

The mercenary was moving at insane speeds, dancing around the beast and avoiding the black flames all the while shooting and cutting the beast.

And cut he did, the sword sliced right through the beast's tentacles, but it was painfully obvious that poor Solus had no clue how to properly use the weapon, all his strikes were poorly timed and resembled hacks rather than the smooth slicing motion all sword masters taught. The only reason he was hurting the beast at all was because of the master blade and how sharp it was.

As Solus was ducking under yet another of the slimy appendages he saw a red gleam in the water, in his moment of distraction another tentacle shot forth although this one was intent of spearing him through the chest. Thankfully when bone tip of the offending appendage struck the teen, what would have been a killing blow was largely deflected by Solus's overpowered aura.

But Solus was knocked from where he had been and into the water-right next to whatever had caught his eye. Instantly Solus was moving again, but he scooped up the object and took a look at it even as he was running. It was crescent rose. Ruby's weapon. How it survived the fire before Solus had no clue, but without much thought Solus attached it to his belt and then went back to the fight.

This wasn't a battle Solus planned on winning, surviving yes, but not winning, even with all his ego and power Solus wasn't stupid enough to think he could kill an SS class Grimm by himself. No what he needed to do was find a way to stop the beast from shooting the bullhead down with the black hell flames.

Solus cleaved another tentacle that came too close and still with his insane semblance boosted speed he jumped up onto the now flailing limb and started to run down it towards the face of the beast. His plan was simple, if he could get a grenade or maybe one of his aura blasts into the Krakens mouth that would stop it from shooting fire at him as he and the others escaped.

But as simple as it sounded in theory it, didn't work out in reality, as soon as Solus got close enough to the face he shot a blast into the beast's mouth all he was rewarded with was blackfire being shot towards his face.

In panic Solus jumped off the beast and into the water below, but this proved nearly as deadly as the flames and the second the he hit the water one of the thick slimy tentacles wrapped around him and started crushing the life out of him.

" _No! No! I cant-!_ " the merc thought desperately but was cut off when a agonized scream of pain escaped his lips as he felt his organs being crushed and his reinforced ribs buckling under the immense pressure.

Panic seized the merc as he desperately channelled his semblance from speed to strength, with a scream of hate and pain, Solus's muscles slowly started to bulge outwards, and ever so slowly the tentacles were forced away and Solus was freed. With his now free hands he jammed his sword back into its rightful place and began moving as fast as he could towards the shore as he forced his aura and semblance to boost his speed.

Previous pain ignored when Solus got to the waters edge he looked back at the Kraken to see why it hadn't continued its assault.

With horror he saw black flames speeding towards the bullhead which had strayed too close. With his free hand Solus shot out a beach ball of pure aura at the Grimms head, the explosion forced it to turn just slightly and the bullhead narrowly missed the flames.

Solus was running out of options, he realized this, his previous plan had failed and he didn't have a new one. _"Come on think! Think!"_ He thought desperately to himself. But any further planning he could have done was cut off when he noticed the massive Grimm right itself and start to open its mouth to attack the bullhead once again.

In an instant Solus spun his assault rifle around in his hand and it shifted into a long barrelled sniper rifle. He had to use his aura sparingly now, meaning no aura blasts, otherwise there was no-way he or the others would make it out. So with skill born of years of experience Solus peered down the scope and fired several rounds into the beast's eyes. Not enough to blind it, but enough stop it from aiming.

In its pain the massive Grimm flailed and thrashed around, and smacked Solus to the ground with one of its tentacles. The Grimm opened its eyes and looked around for the one who caused it such pain, when it saw Solus pushing himself up from the ground the mighty beast brought one of its many tentacles down on his back, smacking him to the ground again.

Solus moaned in agony, that last hit had defiantly broke a rib or two despite the fact they were reinforce enough to handle several tonnes of pressure. Solus flipped over just it time to see the slimy appendage come crashing down again, when it hit a sickening crack rang out with screams of pain.

But if Solus was anything, he was a survivor. So he pushed through the pain and jumped off the ground and moved away from the beasts limbs.

Desperately he looked around for anything that could distract the Grimm long enough to get away. His eye settled on his sniper rifle and then sifted to Crescent Rose which was still clipped to his belt, an idea started to take shape in his fatigued mind.

With his free hand Solus unclipped his partners weapon from his belt and pressed the release button so it shifted into if scythe mode.

"I hate my life…" the merc muttered to himself as he charged at the hulking Grimm, Solus leapt towards one of the tentacles and hooked it around Ruby's scythe, and using his momentum he spun around the massive appendage, unknowingly mirroring the moves done by his partner.

Unlike his partner however, he spun around while moving towards the face and center mass of the huge Grimm.

When he got close enough he used he momentum to throw himself into the air, and with a yell he used all his air time pushing his semblance into his strength. As he was falling he swung Crescent Rose down into the Krakens head, latching himself onto the beast.

It didn't kill the massive Grimm, just pissed it off even more and made it thrash around. But still Solus clung to the red and black scythe that held him to the beast. And with a twirl in his hand his sniper rifle shifted back into its original form. A mean looking assault rifle.

Solus positioned himself over the beast's eyes and with a scream of hatred he unleashed a hailfire of dust rounds into the Krakens eyes permanently blinding the creature.

Solus looked around wildly trying to spot the bullhead.

When he saw the aircraft he wrenched the scythe out of the krakens head and started running.

Well running isn't the right word, Solus kept his semblance pushed into his strength making him painfully slow, but as he ran up of the beast's tentacles he knew he would need it, because the bullhead was just too far away, so he'd have to jump.

He could see Ruby and the others screaming franticly for him to hurry up, so Solus leapt.

* * *

As Solus sailed through the air everything seemed to be going in slow motion for Ruby, she could see her weapon still in its scythe form in his right hand, and in his left he held his gun. But behind the merc she could see the Kraken shooting bursts of black fire in random directions.

As Solus drew closer Ruby realized he wasn't going to make the jump, his hand reached out to catch the edge of the ship but he was falling too fast and in an instant, he was gone, Just disappeared beneath the bullhead. Idly Ruby noted someone screamed out his name, it took her a fraction of a second to realize that it was infact her whom screamed.

But this detached moment was completely shattered when suddenly the blade of her scythe hooked onto the bullhead from out of nowhere. Ruby leaned forward sticking her head out of the plane and looked down.

And what she saw brought her more joy than all the cookies in the world.

A haggard, sweaty and bleeding Solus was hanging onto the aircraft with Ruby's beloved Crescent Rose. "Pull me up!" he screamed at her. all Ruby could do was nod her head vigorously and bark at the others to help her. "Yang! Pyrrha! Help me lift him!"

Instantly the older girls jumped into action by moving to either side of Ruby and grabbing hold of Crescent Rose's blunted sides and giving a massive tug, Solus clipped his gun to his belt and when he got close enough he reached out for someone to grab his hand. Yang was the closest so she took hold of his outstretched arm and started to pull him up by herself.

But the moment he put all of his weight in the other blondes hands she staggered forwards, almost letting go of Solus in the process. "shit! You weigh like a tonne! Guys I need some help here!"

But before the others could move to help Solus gave a violent tug on Yang's arm, in the process lifting himself high enough to grip the edge of the bullhead with his right hand, but pulling Yang out of the aircraft.

Fortunately Solus kept a hold on Yang, otherwise she likely would have fallen to her death in the water below.

With grunt of effort the merc heaved the girl above him and basically threw her into the cabin. Ruby moved to help Solus up but he ignored her and dragged himself up.

"Solus are you ok!?" exclaimed the now frantic Ruby

Solus was on all fours and breathing heavily. "do I *pant* look alright to you?"

Before Ruby could reply Solus pushed himself up and moved towards the cockpit. But Ruby followed him anyway and started to speak "thank you so much for saving all of us and my Crescent Rose."

That actually stopped Solus for a moment. He was never thanked like this, he was normally paid for whatever it is he did then told to bugger off. But people actually being grateful? Only hazy memories of a time long past remained of such a concept.

With scarcely a nod Solus pushed into the cockpit and told Ren to move he could pilot. The silent boy just nodded and gave solus the controls.

When Solus sat down in the pilot seat he gave a groan of satisfaction at finally being off his feet. Ruby feeling slightly dejected that Solus didn't want to talk started to move back into the main cabin where the others were, but solus stopped her "Ruby… I- your mother, what was her name?"

Ruby's head turned sharply to Solus and the moment their eyes made contact she said "Summer Rose" but to her shock Solus said the name at the exact same time as her.

He sighed deeply…

"Summer Rose…" he muttered "a debt repaid… for now…"

 **A/N**

 **I really am an ass aren't I? this chapter revealed next to nothing about his connection to Summer, but fear not! Next chapter is almost exclusively Solus interacting with everyone else and there will be a flash back about Summer.**

 **Im curious, through out all of the story so far ive been hinting at a reoccurring theme about Solus, this chapter touched on it briefly but… harshly… so can anyone tell me what im talking about here? Its something ive been trying to impress upon everyone that reads this.**

 **And just to keep up my habit of putting spoilers or near spoilers in every A/N here is something to look forward to in a few chapters:**

 **The battle of fort Independence. From Blakes perspective.**

 **Onto reviews. Speaking of reviews, guys, like I said in chapter 8 I do need encouragement to want to continue the story, so LEAVE A REVIEW.**

 **daved134:**

 **rescue is a strong word, is there a single word that means "I don't like any of you and im only doing this because I owed your mother a favour" ? no? I didn't think so. Thanks for reviewing though.**

 **The American Wolf:**

 **Because I was insanely pleased with your review and the conversation we had, im going to give you a big hint (not quite pushing into spoiler territory though)**

 **Go re-read chapter 7…. Done that? Yes? Good. Did you know that Sun was originally from Vacuo?**

* * *

 **Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.**

 **Leave a review!**


	13. Things Forgotten

Edge of life

Chapter twelve

Things Forgotten

 _Pain clouded everything, every sense, every nerve; every inch of his body was fogged over with the overpowering feeling of every kind of pain imaginable, burning, freezing, hunger, sharp, dull, ache, throb, pulsing, breaking, ripping, tearing, it was all there, it was everywhere and nowhere at the same time it was maddening._

 _But not a sound escaped the boy's lips._

 _Because he knew it wasn't real. Just like everything else in his life, the boy had no concept of anything beyond his number, his cell, and the arena._

 _Because he didn't remember anything else. He was subject 13, and his earliest memories were him awakening in a cold room, held to the ground by chains, he had worn nothing, he had knew nothing except the cold and a lingering pain in his chest and head._

 _But that was a long time ago, or at least the boy thought it was a long time ago, subject 13's only understanding of time was when the director spoke to him. Or when the director wanted to run tests like he was right now._

 _13 felt the pain, but he knew it was just an illusion caused by the test, the pain wasn't real, it was just in his mind. But slowly it all faded away, leaving 13 feeling empty once more. 13 hoped to go to arena soon, its where the others always were, where 13 felt the most alive, when he literally held the life of another subject in his hands. The director was kind hearted and allowed all the subjects to fight for supremacy, and if the fight amused the director enough then they would be made to feel such wonderful things, an aching, a longing, a_ _lust_ _for something._

 _But if they lost in the arena then they'd die, be gone forever, disappear, and fade from memory._

 _13 had never lost, he'd come close many times, but he had always pulled out a victory, always survived just like the director taught him to. "survival" the director always said "at any cost!"_

 _The director said so many things, even now in the silence of his cell subject 13 could hear the directors words whisper in the back of his mind 'you must always survive subject 13, you are strong, only the weak die. But you aren't strong enough, you must get stronger, more powerful, then together we will be unstoppable'_

 _But 13 didn't understand, didn't the director already control all? Everyone 13 ever met knew about and was a subject under the director, just like 13 himself was._

 _Even 13's friend subject 8 thought the same thing. Subject 8 was… different to 13, 8's hair was longer, and 8 had raven black hair unlike 13s own yellow hair. 8 was… gentler… with 13 than most of the other subjects, but not in the bad way that the director said weaklings so enjoyed. It was refreshing. And 8 even helped 13 from time to time, when 13 was having trouble with his wrist blade techniques 8 had helped and showed him how to use the weapons properly._

 _13 didn't move as he felt the cold metal of a needles being removed from either side of his neck, and with them all traces of the previous pain. Suddenly a holographic screen appeared before 13 and with it came the image of the director, he was a unassuming figure, only standing at about 5'7 with thinning grey hair atop his head, circular glasses and all the wrinkles and a slightly crumpled brown suit. "excellent subject 13!" he clapped his aged hands together "marvellous indeed! Truly you have the potential to be one of the best terminators ever created! And I will- eh? What is this?" suddenly the hologram cut out._

 _Then the normally cool blue lighting of 13s room changed to a stark red and the directors voice rang out again, but this time wasn't to 13 directly "all subjects! The enemy has found us! We must defend the base! They have somehow gotten a virus into the system and magnetically sealed all the cell doors! You must all escape and defend the base!"_

 _Instantly 13 tried to move but he found that the manacles holding him to the ground but they didn't release like they normally would. This… this could be a problem 13 realized, 13s chains were unique to him and his semblance, meaning that there was little to no chance of 13 breaking free and joining the battle that would soon rage outside._

 _But regardless of this 13 tried to free himself, he pulled and tore at the chains quite some time, all the while screaming and raging like a feral beast._

 _But even with all his training and conditioning13 was still just a child and eventually his violent attempts to free himself subsided into pitiful moans and whimpers at the pain that now seized him. The REAL pain that seized him, not fake or induced like before, real pain, pain caused from injury. The child had foolishly wasted most of his aura trying to escape but with that energy gone there was no way 13 could have healed the terrible tearing he had caused to his wrists and forearms._

 _The pain was slowly subsiding when suddenly a sword burst through the door, slowly the blade retracted. Evidently the blade hit something important because all the power to the magnetic door cut out. Slowly the door lifted until 13 could see someone on the other side. Idly, in his haze 13 noted that this person had long hair just like his friend subject 8, except this newcomers hair was a very dark red._

 _With a final grunt of exertion from the newcomer the door locked into place. 13 just kept staring at the stranger, he was completely focused now, not even the dripping blood from his wrists distracted 13. the stranger rushed up to him kneeled down to eye level and started fiddling with the chains that bound him. "I- you poor thing, are you alright?" 13s eyes met the strangers and he was shocked to see silver. Silver eyes. "right, stupid question, my name is Summer Rose, what's yours?"_

" _ **name?"**_ _13 thought_ _ **"what is 'name?'... does the stranger mean my designation?"**_

" _I am subject 13" the child said in a very level tone_

 _For a moment Summer looked horrified then spoke "no… your name… don't you remember your name?"_

 _With a click the chain binding 13 right hand unlocked, and in an instant 13s hand shot out and grasped Summer by the throat and squeezed down just hard enough to make Summer claw at his hand and struggle to breath. "the director said we were under attack, are you a hunter?"_

 _Summer seemed to hesitate before answering "listen to me, what the director had done to you is wrong" Summer ceased her struggling "you don't even know what's been done to you, because of Braun you will never be the same, and I am… so sorry. But I came here to free you and the others. Even if you don't want to be free."_

 _Before 13 could say anything summer grabbed hold of his arm and gave a violent tug on his thumb, shattering it. 13 gave out a violent hiss of pain and a slight whimper. The pain was dreadful, but on instinct 13 followed the training the director had given all subjects. "all pain is an illusion, survival is an absolute, only the weak feel pain" and he just kept muttering it repeatedly to try and make the pain pass._

 _Then something unexpected happened Summer reached over and slowly took 13s hand in her own, 13 expected her to break more bones but instead he felt… warmth… but not the warmth and heat of battle, or like the temperature tests the director ran sometimes. This warmth felt… calming… pure and oddly… familiar. 13 looked into Summers silver eyes and saw something he never recalled seeing before… it was odd… like Summer wanted to help him but wanted nothing in return._

 _With a start 13 noted that his thumb was no longer broken, infact it felt better than it did before! How was this possible? Did Summer use his aura? But… why?_

" _im going to take you far away from here" Summer stated with a unidentifiable look in those silver eyes. "Im going to take you far away and bring you to my home where you can be_ _free_ _and truly understand just how much Braun has wronged you."_

"Summer Rose" Solus muttered as the memory flashed through his mind "a debt repaid…"

"y- you know m-my mother?" the now very shaken Ruby said

"I… was with her at the end…" Solus said, his eye closed as if remembering something long since forgotten.

Knowing Solus wouldn't answer how he met Summer or where it happened in a tiny voice Ruby asked "did- did she suffer?"

Visions of metal bursting through Summers chest filled Solus's damaged mind "are you sure you want an answer to that?"

Ruby gave a shaky nod.

"…it wasn't a quick death" Solus looked Ruby in the eyes, seeing the same silver that he saw many years ago. He decided then and there that he wasn't going to let Ruby die like Summer did. Solus knew he wasn't the most honourable of men, but he would not let this debt go un-paid. He would protect Ruby like Summer had protected him.

Silent tears were running down Ruby's face, her whole frame shook with silent sobs. "Ruby" Solus said with his normal rough sounding voice softening just slightly "she did what she thought was right, but she didn't want to leave you, she struggled until the end"

Ruby looked at Solus, she gave a shaky nod and moved closer to the merc and did something that shocked him to the core. She hugged him. Solus hadn't been hugged in… years, the feeling was… alien to him. And if it was anyone else he would have shoved them away or killed them, but because it was Ruby he… allowed it.

Soon the hug ended and Ruby moved away towards the door of the cockpit, she glanced back at Solus and gave a very slight grin and said "I think the others want to thank you…" when she opened the door she saw all the hunters to be (minus the still unconscious Weiss) looking expectantly at the young reaper and seemed to be waiting for something.

"Can… can we go in? is he okay?" the anxious Pyrrha asked

"Um… it's kinda cramped it there, so I'd go one at a time." Ruby said while trying and failing to hide the fact that she'd been crying. Of course Yang noticed this.

Pyrrha moved to go in first but Blake stopped her "Pyrrha… can I go first, I… need to ask him something" the normally near silent girl asked.

Being the perpetually kind person she is Pyrrha shuffled aside so the ravenette could enter the cockpit.

Solus was sitting in the pilot seat with his right hand on the joystick steadily flying them towards where he parked his jeep when Blake entered. Without a word she sat down into the co-pilot seat and took a deep breath. "Solus" she said "thank you for saving us"

Solus just had to glance at the girl to know she wanted something, so being straight to the point he grunted out "we both know you want something, spit it out already."

"You… are a bounty hunter correct?" she said slowly

"Yes…?" Solus replied not knowing where this was going

"Do… do you know what happened to Argentum Mortem? Where he went? How he died?" the girl asked in a deceptively level tone

" _Shit! Shit! What do I say!? "Oh he isn't dead! Im him!" yeah great plan…"_ the now slightly panicked merc thought to himself.

After the silence got a bit too heavy for Solus's tastes he decided not to lie… but to not really tell the truth either. "… Is this because of what he did to your people at fort Independence?"

Blake's eyes widened and she looked quite freaked out "you-but- how? How do you know!?"

With a perfect deadpan look Solus replied "seriously? How many humans do you know have yellow silted eyes?"

"…touché"

"look Blake, if this is just about what happened at fort independence then I really see no point to answer those questions. Besides, Mortem paid for his crimes." " _A punishment worse than death"_ Solus finished in his head.

Blake looked unconvinced "paid for his crimes? He killed over two _thousand_ people that day, what death could possibly pay for those atrocities?"

Solus sighed and put the bullhead back onto autopilot, then he turned his chair to face Blake fully "death wasn't his punishment Blake, life was."

Blake looked about ready to blow a gasket at _that_ particular piece of information "he's not dead!? How do you know!? Are you certain!?"

As irritated as Solus was right now, he couldn't really blame Blake for being so… pushy on this subject, besides a familiar explosion of guilt cut through the merc's mind. "Mortem… taught me what I know about fighting, and I know for certain he's not dead, defeated yes, but not dead."

Blake looked at Solus, really looked at him, not just a passing glance, and not focussing on his single remaining eye to avoid the deep jagged scar that marred his face. For once she took in his face as a whole, trying to figure out what he was thinking. But then she realized something… there wasn't just one scar on his face, the scar that took his eye diverted attention from everything else… his face _covered_ in scars. Blake was horrified at what she saw, there must have been dozens of them, little ones and big ones, how could she have not seen this before? Why had she only just noticed?

"is there something on my face?" Solus snapped after Blake's staring got a bit much.

Blake shook herself trying to rid her mind of pitying thoughts for Solus, Because if what the bounty hunter said was true than it was no doubt Mortem whom caused such terrible wounds to Solus. "Solus… can you take me to him? Him and I have unfinished business."

Solus couldn't help but bark out a laugh "that's not a fight you could win Blake"

"You don't know that, I could-"

Solus cut her off "the Mortem from fort Independence was far weaker than he is now. Currently his power _eclipses_ your own and everyone on this plane, he was much weaker then, but now? In that armour of his he'd be _unstoppable,_ if you fight him you will die. Painfully"

Solus wasn't wrong, the armour was a master work of science and power. Currently Solus was about as strong as he was wearing the armour when he first got it nearly a decade ago. If Solus were to wear it once again he would be nigh unkillable.

But Blake wouldn't give in that easy "but what he did, what he could do…. He needs to be stoped… please Solus" she looked long and hard into Solus's eye.

"No, even if all of us fought him" Solus gestured to the back of the bullhead where the others are "we would loose. And besides what's the point? I know he can't escape where he is now." even as Solus was saying this a tiny little voice in the back of his mind whispered _"not yet"_

Blake snapped "And what is his great punishment then? _Life_? That's hardly atonement for what he did"

Despite how much he was trying to stay calm and not get angry Solus couldn't help the bubble of anger the burst forth "and what would you know?" the merc hissed "what has your life been? Run around steal a few things for your precious white fang remnants and lament how hard things have been since you lost at that cursed fort? Let me explain why _life_ is a fitting punishment for Mortem, its because he _regrets_ what he did, he feels _guilt_ and he is forced to _live_ with that. _Forever_ "

Blake just sat in shocked silence, how could Solus know these things? It was unsurprising that he knew of her time in what remains of the white fang given what else he was able to work out, but how could he be certain about Mortem? "How can you be sure? Maybe it's a trick or-"

"I was there you know, the greatest act of evil Mortem ever did. It wasn't his actions at fort Independence, what he did at that fort is _nothing_ compared to his greatest sin. I watched as his spirit seemed to crumple afterwards, then I watched as he wandered the lands he decimated searching for his atonement and redemption, and do you know what he found? Nothing but _ashes_ of everything he ever cared for. And his spirit broke and he became _nothing_." He wasn't wrong. Solus knew that he was but a shell of what he could have been.

Blake was silent for a solid 5 minutes then she spoke quietly "Solus… please, I need to do this."

Solus heaved out a heavy sigh "tell you what kitten, I'll write you up a hologram simulation with Mortem in it, if you can beat him in that, then I'll tell you where he is. Sound fair?" of course Solus was lying, despite the fact that there was almost zero chance of defeating a full powered Mortem, Solus would never tell anyone of his greatest shame.

Blake's eyes narrowed suspiciously, "what do you get out of this?"

Solus gave a lopsided smirk and said "several years entertainment" he wasn't wrong, Solus would probably find Blake getting beaten to the ground hilarious, although to be fair, Solus would anyone getting beaten to the ground hilarious.

Blake just huffed then got up and left the cockpit.

A/N

 **Everyone, please do yourself a favour, go back and re-read the flashback about Summer and the part with Ruby after it. I can assure you that most of you will have missed some near spoiler level hints about the rest of the story.**

 **So this chapter was a bit heavy on the feels I know, but it gave you guys an extremely valuable bit of information regarding Jaune's frankly crappy morals and how he got there. It also introduced Summer! And finally,** _ **finally**_ **explained how Jaune met her, but gives you almost no information about the events after they meet. So please leave a review or PM me on how you think events turned out after their meeting, im dying to know what you all think.**

 **Oh and just to keep you all interested, here is the title for a chapter in the second arc of this story: When in Rome**

 **Anyone want to speculate what that chapter could mean?... and who might be in it?**

 **Ok enough of my blabber, onto reviews:**

 **chronical199:**

 **its reviews like yours that really warm my heart, so kind and caring. Thanks dude!**

 **daved134:**

 **thanks, I'll do my best to keep up with this.**

 **The American Wolf:**

 **Oh shit indeed? Makes one wonder how things are gonna turn out doesn't it?**

 **Green Gustavo:**

 **He did sorta get his ass handed to him didn't he? Oh well, it turned out fine in the end.**

 **Nik41:**

 **yeah, I do enjoy writing about hurting Weiss. hmm... that makes me sound like a psychopath... what i mean is: i frankly dislike Weiss as a character, and think that she should either get a major attitude adjustment or die in a hole. i really hope for the latter.  
Im not a psychopath. Really. Im not.**

* * *

 **Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! So leave a review and tell me what you think!**


	14. Bad Habits

Edge of life

Chapter thirteen

Bad Habits

"You have to return it you know." Ruby stated with confidence

Solus looked at her like she was crazy "why on Remnant would I gave it back?"

"Because it's not yours"

"well if they wanted to keep it then they should have guarded the bloody thing better" Solus honestly didn't see the problem, Solus just wanted to swing by his parked jeep, attach it to the bottom of the aircraft then get to Vale, but upon hearing where he got the bullhead Ruby had demanded that they return it to the military outpost that Solus had stole it from.

"Solus you realize you can't go around stealing stuff right?" the girl asked

" _Borrowing,_ Ruby, im _borrowing_ it. Permanently."

"You didn't even try asking for it did you?" Ruby asked despite already knowing the answer.

"And why ask when they would just say no?" the merc retorted

"Because it's the right thing to do" the girl said firmly

"Right and wrong are just ideas, preconceptions really. So why would I waste time with them?" Solus honestly didn't understand what Ruby was getting at. He stole it, so what?

"Solus" Ruby ground out "just do it"

"You do realize we'd have to use my 5 seater jeep for all 8 of us for the remaining 40 kilometers into the city?"

Ruby just gave a small glare

Solus glared back, but both glares lacked any heat, and eventually Solus relented. "Fine"

* * *

2 hours later

Despite the fact that Solus had recently saved his fellow hunters to be he felt like he could kill all of them. Painfully. He had just spent 2 of the most painful hours of his life trying to block out the constant stream of banter and chatter. The only person Solus didn't feel a murderous rage towards was the only other male in the little group Ren, and that was only because he was near silent the entire trip the only times the boy did speak was when it was for good reason. Solus could respect that. But his friend was evil, she had _constantly_ talked, it was a continuous stream of useless information like 'how pretty Solus's sword was' and 'do you think fish would like pancakes?'

Yang had taken to trying to provoke conversation from Solus and when the merc didn't respond she got shitty and almost set everything on fire, Yang's partner Blake decided to attempt to interrogate Solus about his aura blasts and was equally irritated when Solus just stone walled her.

Ruby had been stuffing cookies from dust knows where into her mouth then trying to say something and inadvertently spraying crumbs everywhere. The snow bitch had woken up and immedently started complaining about what ever hardships she felt she was suffering through.

And most annoying of all: Pyrrha. She had been trying to speak with Solus and on the few occasions the bounty hunter bothered to answer she smiled like an idiot and then proceeded to drone on and on about _even more_ boring and completely uninteresting things, when Solus had gotten wise to this he had just stopped talking entirely but even that didn't work because the (in his opinion) crazy bint had somehow gotten the idea that Solus was injured from the fight with the Kraken. His aura had dealt with those petty pains ages ago, so Solus was forced to sit there and try and ignore the red headed girl's annoying pokes and prods to his reinforced ribs.

But finally they drove into Vale city, meaning that poor Solus's torment will soon be over. After Solus picks up a few things of course, firstly the merc needed to stop by Junior's club and ask Junior a favour and get a crapload of alcohol. Secondly Solus needed to go acquire a high quality portable computer that he could use to program the Argentum Mortem simulation for Blake.

Solus took a left at a crossing and idly cruised along at 60 km when Pyrrha decided to speak _yet again_ "ah Solus? The airship to Beacon is in the other direction."

The rest of the passengers in the all too small jeep went quiet realizing that Pyrrha was infact correct. Solus let out a grunt of irritation "I need to make a few stops first."

The champion only looked mildly surprised "what for?"

"I need to speak to someone and I need to get a computer." As he was saying that last part he gave Blake a pointed look.

Slowly Solus pulled to a stop outside the club and pulled the hand brake "isn't this near where we first met you?" Ruby asked from the back seat.

"yes, just down the road is where I Yang… ah good times…" surprisingly when Solus's spoke to Ruby his voice lacked the usual sharp tone he used with everyone else.

Before anyone else could comment on the merc's words Solus spoke again "stay in the jeep, I'll be back in about 5 or 10 minutes" he got up out of the vehicle but was instantly annoyed when Pyrrha got out as well.

He levelled a glare at the red head "did you not just hear what I said? Stay in the jeep."

"But you can't go in alone especially after a fight like the one you had with the Kraken" the worried looking girl said as she moved out of the vehicle.

"Your not exactly inconspicuous you know" he said gesturing to Pyrrha's (in his opinion) utterly useless armour that showed just enough skin. "And bringing a well known huntress in training to a place like this isn't exactly the best of ideas."

"Perhaps it would be better if I were to accompany you?" Ren interjected from the jeep before Pyrrha could say anything.

Solus looked at the only other male present, he certainly didn't look imposing or threatening, but Solus knew he had to at least have some skill to survive Beacon. So in an effort to get rid of Pyrrha Solus said "yes, I suspect he can be more subtle than cereal box girl. You can come."

To her credit the champion didn't look insulted or offended in any way. If anything she looked mildly surprised. Up until now Solus hadn't mentioned anything about Pyrrha's fame, so she had just assumed he didn't know about her, but even better in her opinion, apparently he just didn't care.

Ren climbed out of the jeep and moved towards Solus, both males walked down the road towards the club. Just as they moved out of sight of the jeep Solus absently patted his belt looking for something, after a few seconds he found what he was looking for, he pulled the slightly crumpled pack of cigarettes out and idly lit one with a shiny silver lighter and took a deep drag. Solus glanced at the male beside him and silently held the packet out in offering.

Ren looked at the smokes for a moment and said "they kill you know."

Both males came to a stop outside the club doors and solus said "so does picking a fight with a SS class Grimm, but that didn't stop you or the others did it?"

A small smile made its way onto Ren's face as he spoke "hmm… fair enough, so what are we here for?"

Solus inhaled another lungful of smoke and said "the owner of this place is pretty well connected, so I just need to ask him to forward any relevant jobs to me. And while we're in there don't speak unless spoken to, and if you see two identical twins for the love of dust don't piss them off, I don't want to deal with that right now."

Ren just nodded and gestured for Solus to move in first.

Both teens made their way into the club slowly weaving a path through the late afternoon dancers and towards the bar. When they got there solus looked at the bartender and said in a tone that brokered no arguing "get Junior, I have business to discuss with him."

The sunglass wearing lackey nodded and hurriedly walked away, while they were waiting for the man Ren spoke "exactly what kind of jobs are you asking this man for Solus?" the questions didn't sound like an accusation, more like idle curiosity on Ren's part.

Solus flicked the ashes off his half used smoke then replied "Im a bounty hunter, I only came to beacon because Ozpin is paying me to. So I need this guy to send some jobs my way from time to time."

Ren just nodded his head and "hmm'ed" at this new information.

Moments later a huge man walked into view of the bar, the guy had to be at least 6'11, his height was made all the more apparent because the two short girls that walked next to him. "Solus." The tall man greeted in a deep voice "to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Ladies" the one eyed merc said nodding to the twins on either side of the tall man "Junior, Im here to propose a mutually beneficial arrangement."

Junior looked a bit sceptical until Solus added "that you will get money from"

The tall man just grinned and said "come with me to my office" he gestured to a door near the bar with an 'employee's only' sign on it. "Girls go occupy yourselves with something while I talk with our friend" he said as he waved his hand dismissively.

Solus moved into the door and gestured for Ren to follow him. The three men walked down a poorly lit corridor and entered a comfortable looking office, Junior sat himself down on a large leather chair while the two teens sat down on the not nearly as comfortable looking plastic chairs opposite Junior.

"So what do you want?" asked the eldest in the room

Solus put out his cigarette on a nearby ash tray then said "I just need you to forward me any relevant jobs that come your way."

"And what do I get out of this?"

"I'll give you 5% of whatever I get from the jobs." Solus replied

"20%" junior said

"5%" solus ground out

"20% or nothing"

"15% but I get free drinks at the bar" Solus spat, this was not how he wanted this to go.

Junior thought about it for a few moments then said "fine, I'll send some jobs your way, but you better make good on that 15%"

Solus got up and moved towards the door "or what? You saw what happened with that huntress the other week, I distinctly recall you screaming like a little girl 'help me! For the love of god help me!'" Junior grumbled obscenities and gestured for the boys to get out.

Solus and Ren made their way back towards the bar, as they did so Ren asked "is there anything else you need to do here?"

In lieu of replying Solus walked up to the bartender and said "get me an esky filled with rum, beer, and whiskey." The bar man nodded and went to grab the drinks that Solus had requested.

Feeling like having another smoke, Solus pulled out his packet of cigarettes and lit one with the same silver lighter he used before.

Quickly the bartender returned with a relatively large esky and said "got the message from the boss, you don't have to pay for this."

Solus nodded, took the esky looked at Ren and jerked his head towards the exit. Both males left the club quickly and started moving towards where Solus had parked the jeep.

The walk back to the vehicle was silent apart from the slight clinking coming from the esky. When both boys got there they were greeted by Pyrrha whom ran to them as soon as they became visible. "You both took awhile I was beginning to-… is that cigarette your smoking Solus?"

Solus just kept walking towards the jeep, he moved to the back of the vehicle and opened the trunk, he pushed the smallish black bag with his possessions in it to the side and slide the esky in. then he slammed shut the door and took a deep drag of the toxic smoke "no, it's a chicken" he deadpanned to the red head.

"They are very bad for you Solus, you should stop smoking" the girl stated with supreme surety in her words.

"Make me" the merc stated arrogantly

Pyrrha could say anything else Ruby stuck her head out the window of the jeep and said "just put it out so we can go Solus"

Surprisingly Solus did as the younger girl asked and dropped the smoke to the ground and stepped on it before moving into the driver seat of the jeep. Solus pulled out and started driving along at a easy 50 kph towards the nearest computer store.

"Smoking really isn't healthy you know" Yang said from the back seat

"what are you my mother? I can do what I want."

Ruby decided avoid the subject completely to avoid argument "so… what was in the cooler?"

Solus glanced in the mirror so he could see everyone in the backseat "liquid refreshment"

Before anyone could respond to that statement Solus pulled over sharply and parked the jeep next to a plain looking electronics store. Solus climbed out of the vehicle and started walking into the shop when much to his displeasure Ruby got out and started following him. "get back in the car." He ordered flatly

"No" the girl said stubbornly.

Realizing this wasn't an argument that he could win Solus just grunted and walking inside the shop. He glanced around the room for a few moments until he spotted an employee, he marched straight up to the young male employee and barked out "bring me your best quality lap-top now."

The young man stuttered and dashed of to get the requested item.

Ruby sighed from beside the merc "would it hurt to use some manners Solus?"

"No, but it would take longer." He replied evenly

The young man came back holding a flashy looking computer and said "s-sir that'll b-be 800 lien…"

Solus frowned, yes he had 800 lien, but he didn't really want to spend it all. Oh well, robbery it is then. Solus reached around to the right side of his belt where his assault rifle was currently clipped, but a small hand grasped his wrist and held firmly. Solus's singular blue eye met with Ruby's duel silver and she gave a very slight shake of the head.

If it was anyone else Solus would have ignored them, grabbed his gun, shot the employee and ran off with the computer.

But because it was Summer's daughter Solus sighed and reached into his other pocket and pulled out a fat wad of notes and grudgingly handed it to the employee.

The young man accepted the money and gave Solus the computer. The merc just grunted and dragged Ruby out of the store towards the jeep.

* * *

Solus had his black shoulder bag slung around his body and his precious alcohol filled esky in his hands as he followed his team down the well lit beacon corridor to their new dorm room. _"Team"_ Solus thought while completely ignoring the chatter around him _"I haven't been part of a team in… years…"_

Solus mulled it over for a few more seconds _"well, at least these morons are less likely to stab me like Kira used to…"_ Solus's eye drifted to Blake _"ok well… she might stab me if she knew Im Argentum Mortem…"_

Solus was forced back into the conversation when Ruby stopped at an unassuming looking door and gestured dramatically saying "welcome to your new home team RSYB!"

Yang looked mildly amused while Blake and Solus just gave Ruby blank looks. "R-right… well, in you go."

Everyone shuffled into the room and started milling about, it wasn't overly big, just a rectangular room with 4 beds and a door of to the side that presumably led to the bathroom.

Solus darted over to the bed in the corner of the room and put his precious esky and his slightly less important crap at the foot of bed furthest from the door. The merc then promptly flopped onto the bed and passed out.

Ruby looked Solus with a pitying gaze, the moment they'd gotten back to Beacon her scroll had updated with medical records for everyone on her team(a privilege every leader got), Solus included. And what she saw was… horrifying, Solus had a pace maker, a metal plate to keep his skull together, a ridiculous amount of scars and he had absolutely zero cartilage in his knees meaning he had 'crippling arthritis'. But the real kicker was just how bad his lungs were, it'd be a constant struggle for breath during every waking moment, and despite that he smoked, a bad habit that would surely kill him within a few years if he didn't stop.

And he had never said anything. Never complained about pain, not mentioned any discomfort at all. That led Ruby to only one saddening conclusion… Solus was used to the pain. The thought of that alone saddened Ruby immensely.

Ruby quietly placed her stuff at the foot of the bed next to Solus's and not bothering to get into her pjs she climbed into the bed and her last thought before falling asleep was to prevent Solus from suffering anymore than he already had.

 **A/N**

 **And so ends the first and possibly longest arc of the story. I have** _ **most**_ **of arc two written out and ready to go, but unfortunately you will all have to wait because there will be a two week break between the end and beginning of arc. But hey, its not that bad, you all just have to wait an extra week before I update again.**

 **Anyway, that aside. Can anyone tell me why they think Solus smokes? And why he's such an asshole? Im honestly curious to see what people think.**

 **So now to the reviews:**

 **Actually wait a moment, here is some information that could interest everyone: when I awnser a review I try to leave hints and… well puns about what will happen later in the story. So if anyone** _ **really**_ **wants to know where this is going, then I suggest you read through what I say to my wonderful reviewers.**

 **Ok, now really onto the reviews:**

 **chronical199:**

 **Thank you for the review.  
Yes i do tend to like stories like that as well, that's why I've taken it a step further with my story, Solus has more than one game changing secret...**

 **Nik41:**

 **Thank you for the review.  
Ouch, watching all the Twilight saga... my heart goes out to you.  
Anyway, no, Jaune never met Ruby or Yang when they were kids, and he certainly didn't have any interaction with them. The following is a list of main characters Jaune met before coming to Beacon: Weiss, Winter, Yang (chapter 1), Blake (fort Independence), Adam (fort Independence), Sun, Penny (sort of), Roman, Ruby (sort of), Cinder, Ironwood, Raven and finally Summer.  
And no... making business is not what is going to be happening in When in Rome. Nice try though.**

 **daved134:**

 **Thank you for the review.**

 **trust me when I say it wont go down like you expect it to. When Blake finally does find out, it will be too late for both her and Solus.**

 **The American Wolf:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Sorry, but this chapter wasn't quite as heavy on the feels, it shows Solus doing more bad guy things in real time though, so no flash backs. It showed the newfound 'power' that Ruby has over Solus.**

* * *

 **Anyway, what are your thoughts, opinions and comments about this chapter, let me know by leaving a review.**


	15. Troubled Dreams

Edge of life

Chapter fourteen

Troubled Dreams

 _Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Was the only sound the wanderer heard as he walked the seemingly endless plains of broken glass. The man, boy really, was garbed in tattered sand coloured clothes that even the poorest would dread being seen in._

 _Almost no skin was visible, only the face could be seen, dirty long matted blonde hair came down to his shoulders. A single ocean blue eye glared at anything it focused on, the left side of the young mans face was marred by a massive scar that cleaved through the once handsome face. An eye patch covered the left eye where the scar was._

 _The huge scar was very fresh, so fresh infact that if one were to look close enough they would be able to see the barest hints of some kind of metal underneath the thin layer of new skin._

 _But of course no one would look. Because he was alone…. All alone… alone in a hell of his own making, alone in a desert of super heated soil that had become glass. Alone to bear the weight of his innumerable sins. The boy was solitary in a land where the only sound was the crunching of glass and the howling of the desert winds._

 _But in his fragmented mind the were voice's, two horrible voice's that whispered things, sometimes sweet nothings, sometimes curse's that would make the boy wish for a death that he knew would never come._

"all your fault. All your fault. All your fault…" _a child like voice whispered in the wanderers mind "_ they're all **gone** because of **you** _."_

 _He kept walking and listening to the crunch of glass underfoot._

 _A different voice cackled in his psyche "_ none of them **matter**. You did what was **necessary** for **survival**. _" This voice sounded like a disturbing synthetic rasp._

 _And still he kept walking. Seemingly unaware of his split mind._

 _The first voice came back "_ this is all your fault… what would mum and dad think of you now? you're a killer, you created this place, you deserve this hell. Your only redemption is in death _"_

 _The howling of the wind picked up a notch._

"mother and father don't matter…" _the second voice whispered_ "only **she** matters, you need to find her, then escape from this prison, leave everyone else to rot. _"_

 _The wanderer staggered slightly, but kept walking, ignoring the strong winds_

"save them, save them all from the hell you created… but not **her** never **her** … **she's** just as evil and corrupted as you are _" the child like first voice said from seemingly nowhere._

 _The wanderer stilled, the rhythmic crunching of glass ceased, his single blue eye lowered to the decimated ground "I am… alone…" he whimpered_

"find her… then return to the only life you know _" the synthetic voice rasped_

 _Soul crushing guilt washed through the young man, he had caused this, he had created this nightmare. Even now as he looked around all he saw was broken glass and heat mirages, and it was his fault, all of it. This land used to be lush and fertile, but now it was just an ocean of sand and broken glass._

 _Suddenly the ever present voices stilled, for the first time in what seemed like years the wanderer felt nothing but silence in his own mind._

 _But outside his head the sound of rushing winds picked up even more, but this time there was a slight whistling to the seemingly overpowering noise._

 _A sound that the wanderer was all too familiar with._

 _Glass storm._

 _A glass storm was the same as a sand or snow storm but with razor sharp shards of glass that would dice any living thing in mere seconds. Aura or no._

 _The child like voice returned "_ just lay down, just lay down and die like the dog you are"

"survival – at any cost! _" the synthetic voice hissed_

 _The boy turned his head to look behind him, there it was, a huge storm in the distance. How had he not seen this before? The storm was massive! It was impossible to miss! "_ only in death can you find redemption" _the child's voice whispered in the back of his torn mind._

"survival – at any cost! _" the synthetic voice hissed again_

 _Seemingly on automatic the wanderer started running away from the huge storm. He travelled at speeds that should be impossible for a human or faunas to move, insane speeds that should have turned his bones and organs to mush. But thankfully his aura protected him from such a fate._

 _But even at these unreal speeds the storm closed in, the man ran on, trying to outrun the killer storm. His legs pounded the shattered landscape in the futile attempts to outrun the storm. "_ you can never escape… you deserve this _" the child voice said in an almost loving tone._

 _Sharp pain bloomed in the wanderers left shoulder as a shard of glass embedded itself deep. Still the boy ran on. Breathing became intensely painful, like forcing rusty nails down ones throat._

 _Desperately the boy channelled his aura to healing his shoulder and protecting him from more glass._

 _For a few moments it worked, he felt the shards impact his body but he didn't feel any pain from skin being broken._

 _But then the full might of the storm came down on the boy, his aura held for mere seconds before he was almost completely drained. The first pain came from a horrible pain in his legs where his aura failed first, sending him to the ground._

 _The boy writhed on the ground in panic and agony, he could feel as his skin was torn away from his body by the unforgiving storm, he could feel as every shard entered his already mangled body._

 _Desperately the wanderer tried to cover his face with his forearms, but the effort was for nothing as the glass just tore his arms instead of his face._

 _With his last dregs of aura the wanderer pushed his semblance into his durability, gradually the pain lessened, but he didn't have enough aura to completely shield himself from the killer glass._

 _For hours the wanderer sat still in the hellish storm, the glass slowly chipping away at his already meagre aura. And all those hours the boy was breathing in tiny little shards of glass, crippling his already weak lungs. And all that time glass still pierced his body despite his seemingly futile attempts to protect himself. Through the entire storm the wanderer just continued whispering "I am alone"_

* * *

Ruby woke before any of the others in her team, at first she just lay there thinking about all that had happened since she had been accepted into beacon, it had been a pretty hectic ride, from getting the airship to fighting the Kraken, but she'd survived it all. With the help of her partner of course.

Her partner Solus confused her, he seemed so cold and uncaring towards everything and everyone, herself included at first. It was weird, when she first became partners with him he seemed to hate her and constantly insulted and degraded her. But after the fight with the Kraken he treated her… differently.

He would listen to every word she said whereas before he hardly spared her a glance. And even more surprisingly he seemed to actually value her opinion, at least to a degree.

With everyone else Solus would just insult or laugh cruelly at them, with her Solus would stop, listen, and if she said something stupid _then_ he'd insult her, not before.

And Solus knew her mother Summer! That seemed impossible, how could Solus have known her? he claimed he was with her when she died but he hadn't given any details. It wasn't that Ruby didn't believe Solus, its just she couldn't imagine a situation in which he would have been there with her. Ruby was 7 when she disappeared, so he would have been… it stuck Ruby that she didn't actually know his age.

A slight prodding in her side knocked Ruby from her thoughts, she shook her head slightly and looked over to see what had poked her. Ruby was surprised to see Blake and Yang crouching down beside her bed. Blake had one finger pressed to her lips signalling for Ruby to stay silent. The young reaper was confused but did as she was asked and stayed quiet.

Yang pointed at towards where Solus was sleeping, immedently Ruby noticed that his brow was covered in sweat and he was writhing around and… muttering?

With a boost from her semblance Ruby dashed over to his bedside and was about to attempt to wake him, but before she could a sharp tug on her prized hood pulled the younger girl back. Ruby looked at Blake in irritation wondering why the other girl had done that, but before she could ask Blake hissed out "listen!"

All was silent for just a second, then Ruby heard it.

Solus was whimpering, he was moaning in pain and fear, and he was whispering "I am alone…"

Pity flooded through Ruby, this… wasn't the Solus she knew… the Solus she knew showed no pain or fear, the Solus she knew would never show this side of himself. Then it struck Ruby.

This was the real Solus.

Everything before was just an act, a masquerade to hide himself from everyone. but now Solus was sleeping he couldn't hide anymore. The mere thought of that terrified Ruby. What had happened to Solus to make him like this? What had broken him this much? What kind of life could he have led to make him like this?

Ruby pulled free of the older girls and moved towards Solus despite the fact that they tried to pull her back again. Slowly Ruby knelt beside his bed and she gently took a hold of his shoulders and shook him "Solus, its okay, its only a dream, its time to wake up" she said softly

At first nothing happened, but then after about a minute of Ruby gently shaking him Solus's eye snapped open and darted around wildly. Still thinking he was stuck in one of his first glass storms Solus's arms flew upwards to protect his face from razor sharp glass.

But no glass came, slowly the merc lowered his arms, and in an instant reality came crashing back in. he wasn't in Vacuo, he wasn't in a glass storm. He was in Beacon, he was in his shared dorm room with the rest of team RSYB. And said team was staring at him. Great.

"a-are you ok Solus?" Ruby asked slightly nervous

"im fine!" he barked out as he pushed himself out of bed.

Ruby took a step back and winced at the cracks and pops that his knee's made as he rose from bed. Her mind flashed back to when she first read the medical reports of each of her team members. Solus's was easily the smallest as it only had a single entry. Yang and Blake both had multiple entries, Yang's most recent being from when she had first met the merc, but the only medical files in all of Remnant listed under the name 'Solus Superstes' are from after initiation.

And they were… horrifying, honestly Ruby couldn't help but shudder to think how he might have gotten such injuries, he'd mentioned his arm being torn off, but other than that there had been no explanation for his physical state. But what the med report had said was _nightmarish_ , his skull shattered so badly that it needed a metal plate to hold it together. Reinforced ribs likely due to repeated breaks.

And his knee's, the report didn't have any theories regarding the state of his crippled joints, all it said was '… subject shouldn't be capable of walking without assistance, crippling pain would be a constant factor if any leg movement occurred…'

But most horrifying of all: the pace maker.

Scans had shown that the pace maker was required due to severe damage to one of the major arteries located a _centimetre_ from the heart itself. It had taken all of Ruby's self restraint not to gasp at the most likely cause of the injury '…evidence shown by the scar tissue above and beneath the skin as well as the condition of the rib cage imply that impalement was the most likely cause of the injury…'

Solus had been _impaled_? That was awful, who would do such a thing to him? Yes he could be an ass at times, even Ruby knew that, but he was _impaled?!_

So after reading the report Ruby had decided not to tell her other team mates about Solus's deplorable condition. She shuddered to think about how such a conversation would go.

Ruby's train of thought was completely derailed by the ever tactful Solus telling Blake and Yang to fuck off and mind their own business.

In an attempt to defuse the coming argument Ruby said "w-well now that we're all awake we can start decorating our room!"

Yang let out an exited "yeah!"

Blake was slightly more reserved but still looked somewhat pleased at the change of pace "okay"

She wouldn't admit it but Ruby was a bit disappointed by Solus's lack of any enthusiasm. The only reaction he showed at all was raising his eyebrow. He didn't say anything, he just took out a cigarette lit it and flopped down onto his bed, eye closed inhaling the poison smoke.

* * *

Solus was typing away steadily at his new lap top during Ooblecks history class, it wasn't anything he didn't already know, so instead of just sitting there and wasting time so Solus had decided to start creating the Argentum Mortem program for Blake. It was kinda funny actually, Yang had taken one look at the wall of code and text and jerked backwards saying "erg! instant headache" and she then proceeded to comment that even Oobleck was easier to understand than what he coding.

Speaking of Oobleck, the dishevelled professor had gotten quite irritated when Solus had just started ignoring everything he said. But the teacher had tried to bring Solus back in by trying to draw Solus into the simply 'rousing' class discussion.

Apparently the last few days teams RSBY and PRWN had missed the class had learned about the history of the faunas wars, or more specifically the battle of fort Castle. So now the teacher was getting the class to discuss the similarities between the fall of fort Castle which was nearly 60 years ago and the much more recent battle of fort Independence.

Right now the jumpy professor was questioning students why Argentum Mortem won where General Lagoon had failed, despite their nearly identical strategies. And Oobleck seemed to think it would be a delightful idea if Solus joined the discussion.

"Mr. Superstes! What is your opinion on the matter? Why was Mortem successful?"

It was the twentieth time he'd asked the question and Solus was getting pissed off, so in an effort to shut up the green haired man Solus finally barked out "because Lagoon was moron and tried to attack using the 'cover' of dark." The entire class was silent in attention "but Mortem fought using fear and intimidation, he used the darkness to help inspire terror and chaos so he could pick the enemy apart."

Oobleck looked positively ecstatic at the answer "yes! Yes! You are correct Mr. Superstes! Argentum Mortem conquered using the fear of his enemy as his weapon! He won because the rouge faunas thought him unbeatable!"

Oobleck darted over to the projector at the front of the room and activated a 3D picture of Mortem.

It was one of the later pictures of his time as Argentum Solus noted, back in fort Independence he had only come to 6'9 but this projection showed him standing about 7'6. so he would have been about 14.

"Argentum Mortem was a master of psychological warfare!" the professor ranted "when he attacked fort Independence he murdered the civilians first to inspire terror!"

Solus glanced over to Blake to see her reaction, but was disappointed by the emotionless expression she held.

The professor continued "with the death of their loved ones the faunas only fought harder! But in a showing of just how callous the bounty hunter could truly be, he killed of a large portion of his own men with artillery fire, in the process killing almost _half_ of the faunas defenders"

" _Ah, happy memories…"_ Solus thought bitterly

"the man even inspired such terror into his own force's that they would willingly commit suicide at his order rather than face his wrath" Ooblecks voice grew more solemn "Argentum Mortem was a vile excuse of a man, he committed evils that pale compared any other living man. He was hated by all of Remnant's people and needed as a cheaper solution by the councils, but he is gone now. just vanished at the time of the Vacuo massacre, the most widely accepted theory is that he was in one of the many destroyed regions of the kingdom when the cataclysm occurred."

Ruby looked over to Solus and saw a stony unreadable expression.

"But that is just a theory, the Slayer of Independence could still be alive" Blake looked at Solus intently as the professor spoke "no body was ever recovered, nothing pertaining to the infamous 'silver death' was ever found. He could still be alive and biding his time. Or he could be naught but ashes in the vast glass deserts of Vacuo. We just don't know."

The bell rang out loudly in the classroom signalling the end of the lesson. Solus saved his progress and started to make his way out of the room with the rest of his team mates but Oobleck stopped him "Mr. Superstes if you could stay behind a moment."

The merc sighed, just as he was about to be free of this painful history lesson and go to the hopefully more entertaining combat class. From beside him Ruby motioned Blake and Yang on but she herself stayed by Solus's side.

Oobleck either not noticing Ruby's presence or just choosing not to comment said "the old Valean language is known to few nowadays but I myself im one such individual, and your name Mr. Superstes raises a lot of questions. I won't force myself upon you, but if ever you want to talk to someone my door is always open young man."

Solus's stony expression slipped into a glare as he nodded and left the room, Ruby walking beside him "Solus?" she ventured "what did he mean? Does… does your name mean something in old Valean?"

For a moment it seemed as though the merc just hadn't heard Ruby. But after a few seconds he said softly "my name means 'the only survivor' it is the name I chose for myself."

That startled Ruby _"the only survivor? the only survivor of what?"_

Being ever tactful like her sister before her Ruby asked "s-so um… what's your real name?"

Ruby didn't expect a loud snort and bark of laughter from the tall blonde "talk about loaded question!"

 _Loaded question? How is that a loaded question?_ "what if you just give me a hint then?" she said jokingly

Solus didn't even bother replying to that. Instead he just silently continued to walk towards Goodwitch's combat class.

Solus liked this class he decided, the nature of it and how Goodwitch taught it appealed to him. The professor had amused Solus to absolutely no end when she explained the rules to teams RSYB and PRWN. She had literally said:

"All rules are as follows 1. You may not cause permanent or lasting damage to fellow class mates 2. There will be no eye gouging. 3. There will be genital mutilation. 4. stop fighting once you or your opponents aura go's into the red zone. That is all; you may take your seats."

But that was just so _funny_ , rules 2 and 3 were oddly specific considering that rule 1 would already cover 2 and 3. but the fact that it needed to be reiterated so pointedly was hilarious. Well… hilarious to Solus anyway, Ruby and Yang had looked a little green at the mention of eye gouging and genital mutilation, Blake had given Solus a speculative look at Solus when she heard rule 2 but she didn't seem terribly fazed by the mention of it.

"Mr. Superstes" Goodwitch called out "and… Mr. Winchester please come to the ring."

Oh yes this is just what Solus needed, blow off some steam by beating some punk within an inch of his life, gods this will be so fun "Solus?" Blake broke the merc from his violent thoughts "try not to kill him."

Well that was a bit of a buzz kill, but he could abide.

Solus made his way into the ring, the other boy was already there, he about the same height as Solus himself, but seemed to be of a much thicker build than the lithe bounty hunter. He also wore a, in Solus's opinion, flimsy looking plate armour that covered his upper chest, legs and arms. The boy smirked at Solus.

"begin!" Goodwitch called out.

Immedently Cardin pulled a large black mace of his back and ran at Solus ready to strike.

Solus stood still in preparation for the beat down he was about to dish out.

Cardin gave a mighty yell and brought his mace down towards Solus's head, his full weight was behind the blow, a painfully obvious sign that he thought it impossible for Solus to dodge the blow.

But Solus did dodge, he didn't even use his semblance, the merc just side stepped to the left and let the mace pass him. But before the large weapon could strike the ground Solus's right hand shot out and grasped Cardin by his unprotected throat and completely halted his momentum by pulling off the ground and into air.

Solus smirked at the now choking boy "bit slow off the mark aren't we Mr. Winchester? Well don't worry, I'll teach you to be faster."

With that final word Solus booted Cardin in the ribs and across the room, in the process making the other boy drop his mace.

Cardin coughed and sputtered from the ground, but he pushed himself upwards and looked towards where Solus was. But all he saw was a fist crashing into his face sending him sprawling back onto the ground.

"the first lesson about speed my friend" Solus booted him in the ribs "is being fast enough to dodge!" another boot to the ribs, this time an audible crack was heard.

Solus glanced up at the giant monitors that showed aura levels, his own was still at green 100% but Cardin's had dropped into the yellow zone and was at 47% "my, my your aura has taken quite the drop Mr. Winchester, is that performance issues on your part? Or am I being too rough for you?"

Cardin moaned something incomprehensible from his position on the ground.

Suddenly Solus yelled out "dodge!" and charged at the prone form of the other boy and grabbed his ankle tightly, then in a feat on semblance enhanced strength started smashing him into every surface within reach.

For almost everyone watching it was quite amusing to see such a lithe guy like Solus be able to swing Cardin over and around his head into ground and walls repeatedly.

Finally Solus let go of the other boys ankle, but he didn't stop his torment, before Cardin could hit the ground again Solus gave a harsh kick that sent him to the far side of the room onto the wall where he slumped into semi-conciseness.

"match over!" Goodwitch yelled harshly

Solus looked up at the aura screens again, his own was still at 100% but Cardin's was flashing red and was only at 13%.

"Pathetic" Solus spat, he turned towards to spectators "can anyone here offer me a real challenge?"

The crowd was silent as Goodwitch dragged Cardin off. No one answered Solus. Soon Goodwitch re-entered the arena and said "thank you Mr. Superstes you may-"

Solus interrupted her "no need professor! Miss Nikos has just volunteered to fight me since Cardin was far too weak to challenge me."

Goodwitch looked at Pyrrha whom was still in the stands "I- um… yes?"

"very well then, make your way into the arena Miss Nikos" the professor said despite the heavy doubt in her voice.

* * *

Solus stood before her, he had a look of utter confidence on his face, as if he knew he would win. This irked Pyrrha somewhat but she refrained from saying anything, instead she focused on clearing her mind and feeling outwards with her semblance, searching for any metal she could exploit during the fight.

"begin!" Goodwitch called

Still extending her senses Pyrrha shifted her weapon into its rifle form and started firing at Solus, but he nimbly dodged the dust rounds and was charging her with slightly inhuman speed.

Finally Pyrrha found a significant amount of metal on her opponent it was… that can't be right… it was… inside him? There was a great big chunk in his chest and some kind of plate under his face.

Just before Solus came within striking distance she charged forwards and attempted a shield bash, well, she made it look like a shield bash. What Pyrrha really did was give an experimental backwards tug on whatever the metal thing in Solus's chest was.

Immedently the merc staggered backwards and clutched at his chest, he gasped in pain and coughed slightly. He felt his aura take a sharp downwards drop, he glanced upwards and saw that in read at 72%

"tugging at some ones pace maker is rude you know" he growled out.

Pyrrha took an involuntary step backwards. Pace maker? Oh gods, she could have killed him if she'd damaged the fragile device "Solus- I didn't mean to-"

She didn't have time to react at all when Solus leapt across the arena and stuck her in the face hard enough to send her sprawling on the ground. Instantly her mind went back into combat mode, she rolled backwards and to her feet to avoid his follow up strike. With a press of a button her weapon shifted from a rifle into its sword mode and she gave a hard swing at Solus's head.

But he was having none of that, he flicked his wrists and out came the dual razor sharp hidden blades. With speed unparalled he dodged Pyrrha's red and orange sword and dragged his blades along the girls exposed wrists forcing her to drop her sword.

Immedently she gave a cry of pain, but Solus wasn't done yet, he gave a brutal kick the sent the red head backwards several meters.

He grabbed his chest again and hissed in pain. Gods almighty his chest hurt.

Seeing his distraction Pyrrha seized the opportunity and hurled her shield at the merc, but he saw the circular weapon flying towards him and ducked.

Solus started to run at his opponent but was stopped when the shield he had just avoided came full circle and smashed into the back of his unprotected head.

Instantly his aura took a drop downwards, and instantly he was pissed off beyond measure. "NOW YOU'VE REALLY PISSED ME OFF!" he roared. And despite the fact that he could see three Pyrrha's instead one, he lashed out with his hands.

Everything around Pyrrha exploded into miniature stars because of Solus's aura blasts, Pyrrha had absolutely no protection because he shield was on the ground near Solus, so the champion was tossed around like a rag doll and felt her skin being burned. Her aura protected her for a few moments but failed after a few seconds, quickly she lost conciseness and collapsed on the ground.

Solus gave a sick looking smirk. He had won.

Pyrrha Nikos, the undefeated Mistral champion had lost.

 **A/N**

 **And here we are at Arc 2 of this story, possibly the worst Arc of the story simply because it will get… difficult… to read a few chapters from now. Just warning you now, characters will die, or be removed as it were. I wont sugar coat it, not much is gonna go well for our not so loveable protagonist.**

 **But hey that's issues for later right?**

 **and can anyone tell me what was happening at the begining of this chapter? what were those voice's? where was Solus? what the hell was going on, because he wasnt Argentum Mortem or Solus Superstes at the time.**

 **All that aside lets move onto the reviews:**

 **Leysa907:**

 **Thank you for reviewing.  
Thanks dude, i try.**

 **That guy:**

 **Thank you for reviewing.**

 **The wait for a new chapter of a story you like is always a killer right?**

 **Wagner:**

 **Thank you for reviewing.**

 **And I will try my hardest to finish this story regardless of what happens, ive got too much planned to do otherwise.**

 **daved134:**

 **Thank you for reviewing.**

 **Hell no. although im quite fond of the Jaune x Blake pairing, there is absolutely no chance of it happening in this story. When I said "** **it will be too late for both her and Solus." I was hinting at something** ** _completely_** **different. It'd be like if I murdered your family, friends and everyone you have ever loved, and nearly everyone you have ever met then asking you out on a date. Its just not gonna happen.**

 **The American Wolf:**

 **Thank you for reviewing.  
jeez you make it sound so sexual, but that aside yeah, they're still gonna fight. The results of said fight will heavily impact on how Pyrrha treats Solus for the rest of arc 2 and 3. although arc 4 is… a different situation.**

 **Nik41:**

 **Thank you for reviewing.  
Ouch man, you have my sympathy. But here have this new chapter to make it better.**

 **Green Gustavo:**

 **Thank you for reviewing.**

 **Your completely right, the whole knowing Summer thing will bit him in the arse one day, but trust me, there are worse things coming for Solus right now.**

* * *

 **And once again, thank you all for reviewing.**

 **Please leave a review!**


	16. Terror Tactics

Edge of Life

Chapter fifteen

Terror Tactics

1 week later

Ruby rolled over in bed and tried to ignore the lingering smell of tobacco.

The leader of RSYB was concerned, very concerned. Its about her partner Solus, when they had escaped the Kraken he had bought "liquid refreshment" as he had called it. Ruby didn't mind if someone had a few drinks every now and then, growing up with a depressed Taiyang as her father had forced her to be tolerant of alcohol. But Solus was taking in to a new extreme; every night after class's the merc would drink himself stupid until he could hardly walk.

And he smoked… a lot. Honestly Ruby just couldn't understand why he did it, his lungs were in awful condition and he was only making them worse. But the whole situation got really bad when he bought out his "special" cigarettes and puffed on them while drinking. Normally when he was drunk he drifted between depression to near insane sounding giggles at seemingly nothing. But when he got out his special cigarettes and smoked them while drinking he became… terrifyingly lucid. At first it doesn't seem too bad but quickly he starts doing dangerous things that could _kill_ him if he's not careful. Like playing with those exploding aura balls of his, he once tried to juggle several and nearly caused a massive explosion because he dropped one.

Although when he was in that lucid state Solus was almost… nice? No nice isn't quite the right word, maybe it would be more accurate to say he was more inclined to sharing. This trait became obvious when about halfway through the week he was absolutely shit-faced drunk and high, he and Yang shared a few drinks and talked (well she talked and he mumbled) about random things. Though that attitude didn't carry over to the next day at all, Yang had tried to take one of his precious drinks from the esky thinking it was okay, but Solus had been livid and had threatened to remove her hand if she ever tried to "steal" from him again.

So yeah, Ruby was concerned because her partner for the next four years was a alcoholic stoner that could (and likely would given his usual temperament) kill everyone on team RSYB. Oh and the fact that whenever they went to professor Goodwitch's combat class and Solus had to fight he would damn near kill his opponents with monumental beat downs and insults.

It wasn't his fault though! Ruby knew Solus had lived through some pretty harsh stuff and was likely hurting because of it, and Ruby would be dammed if she was a bad partner for not showing compassion and patience.

Now if only she could get Solus in on the whole 'compassion and patience' gig then everything would be great.

It'll happen eventually right?

Right?

Yeah, things were going so well for Ruby and her team.

Ruby rolled out of bed and left the dorm silently, it was going to be another long day…

* * *

 **Later at breakfast**

Solus was sitting at the breakfast table with teams RSYB and PRWN, he was typing away at the Mortem program for Blake while idly munching on a piece of toast that he had stolen from Yang's plate – much to his amusement and her anger.

The merc was completely zoned out of the conversation, despite the fact that Ruby and Pyrrha kept trying to drag him back into it. Although nothing they were saying was terribly interesting, Ruby was trying to get him to talk about his weapons, or more specifically his gauntlets that shot out pure aura. Pyrrha was trying a more subtle approach by saying things like 'what do you think Solus?' whenever the tables conversation moved to something she thought he might find interesting.

And overall? Solus was angry. Because it had been far to long since he'd let his rage out by killing something. All he'd gotten to do was beat the crap out of anyone unlucky enough to face him in combat class.

And that was another thing, the school was absolutely buzzing with rumours and gossip about Solus beating the previously undefeated Pyrrha Nikos. The things said about him went from stuff like Pyrrha throwing the match just to mess with everyone, or to the more extreme, Solus actually being a teacher in disguise trying to teach the students humility.

All the rumours were complete and utter bullshit of course, but it didn't stop people from talking.

A hand shot into Solus's vision and snatched his laptop away, angrily the merc's gaze shot upwards towards the offender, Nora sat there happily clutching the computer to her chest, her turquoise eyes alight with enthusiasm and curiosity "hey Solus can I ask you a question?" without even waiting for a reply she continued "how'd you loose your eye?"

All conversation at the table ceased, it seemed that for just a moment the other young hunters didn't even breathe, if it weren't for the other students in the cafeteria then there would have been absolute silence.

Ren was the first to regain composure, "Nora" he said firmly "it's rude to ask such questions without-"

Solus held his right hand up signalling Ren to stop, everyone held their breaths, would he actually tell them? Everyone including Weiss whom hated Solus with a passion wanted to know the answer.

"you know, I had been wondering how long it would take someone to ask." Its true, over the course of the last week Solus had been wondering when someone would finally ask him how he got the grievous injury. "but the answer to that question is long and complicated, and none of you have earned that story from me. So don't ask again. Ever."

There was a moment of silence at the table where no sane person dared speak.

But Nora wasn't really that sane.

"oooookay… so what about that thingy in your chest then? Pace maker? How'd you get that?"

Pyrrha looked at Nora in alarm, she hadn't told _anyone_ about what she did to Solus in their match, to do so would mean reveal her semblance and she wasn't quite ready to do that, So how did Nora know about Solus's pace maker?!

Then it hit Pyrrha, Solus had mentioned it during the fight. So everyone knew that Pyrrha had nearly _killed_ Solus by attacking the extremely fragile device that kept him alive.

The Spartan champion sunk into her seat from the shame she felt.

Solus smirked viciously, this would be fun. He pulled his leg back into a perfect kicking position and poured just a little of his semblance into strength.

Ruby, who was sitting next to the merc felt the rise in his aura "Solus what are you-"

The 15 year old was cut off when there was a smacking sound and wail from Nora as Solus kicked her in the shin hard enough to actually make the crazy ginger cry.

Everyone was too stunned to speak, Solus had actually hurt Nora just because she asked a question. Everyone except Ruby that is "Solus" the girl hissed "apologize to Nora. Now."

The bounty hunter looked momentarily taken aback by Ruby's order, like he didn't understand why she would give such a command. "What? Why would I? I did warn her."

Ruby grabbed his arm with surprising strength, "Because I told you to, say sorry then take her to the infirmary!"

If it were anyone else then Solus would have spat on the order and likely killed, or at least injured whoever was fool enough to give it.

But it wasn't just anyone. It was Ruby, the daughter of Summer Rose his saviour.

Solus reached over the table and grabbed Nora's right arm, Ren thinking that Solus was going to cause more damage moved to stop him. But the eastern boy was stopped when a faint white glow appeared around Solus and Nora and the girls wails of pain ceased. And at a glance all present could tell that Nora's shin had completely healed free of any blemish's or bruising.

"there! Are you happy now o' mighty leader?" the merc said mockingly to Ruby.

Everyone looked at Solus in very slight shock, to be able to heal a broken or even slightly damaged bone with aura was possible given time or with a naturally protective aura. But Solus had shown himself to be extremely violent and easily angered so it was highly unlikely that his aura was protective in nature, so that would mean that he had _huge_ aura reserves.

"wha… how? How much aura do you have?!" Ruby half screamed in ever so slight jealousy.

Solus looked thoughtful for a moment then said "well let's compare shall we?"

He raised his right hand and a glowing white ball of pure aura appeared and just sort of hovered above his hand for a few moments before he closed and lowered his hand making the energy ball disappear.

With deliberate movements Solus removed the glove from his right hand and gave it to Ruby. "put it on and force your aura into and above your hand." He said commandingly.

Eagerness over the weapon she had been gawking at all week completely overpowered her previous anger and Ruby did as she was told and put the glove on, it was a bit big but it still kind of fit.

Sweat beaded on the young girls head as she tried to create and aura ball like Solus did moments ago, for about a minute her skin just got steadily paler until she looked like a ghost.

"Ruby maybe you should stop…" Yang said worryingly

"No! Just a little more aura…" the younger girl pleaded as Solus smirked darkly in amusement.

Ruby continued to pour her aura into her hand, steadily getting paler as the seconds passed by.

Then, finally there was a spark, just a little red spark that came from the gem in the palm of the glove. Ruby had a absurdly huge grin on her face due to her success, but it only lasted a moment. The girl collapsed in her seat, slumping foreword and nearly getting a face full of her breakfast. But fortunately Solus caught her before that could happen.

Ignoring Yang crying out Ruby's name, Solus said "you surprise me Ruby; I had expected you to pass out before you actually managed to activate the glove"

In response Ruby said something that sounded vaguely like "ima hdiaj itdn?"

Solus blinked, well, winked in confusion, but within moments shook his head and set Ruby down on the table and quickly reclaimed his glove before anyone could take it.

Yang was shooting Solus a venomous glare from the other side of Ruby, but the merc payed it no mind, he simply placed his now gloved hand on Ruby's back and channelled a small amount of his aura into the younger girl.

Instantly Ruby shot upwards into an alert position, she whipped her head around to Solus and Said "that was awesome! How much aura do you have to be able to use those gloves!? "

The mercenary just grumbled , obviously not liking being the center of attention on the table. His mind jumped on the first thing that came to mind "err… class starts soon, so we should get going."

With that said he jumped up and snatched his laptop away from where Nora had left it, and then he bolted out of the room.

* * *

Solus was sitting down in class with his hands typing away at his laptop at breakneck speeds, but he was getting almost nothing done. And oh boy was he pissed about it, in truth the merc was even closer to killing someone than he was before, all because of that fat bastard professor Port.

All his other classes weren't too bad, rock up type stuff on his computer for Blake then leave. But he can't do that in Grimm studies, no not a chance. It's because the aforementioned fat bastard professor Port had taken a _liking_ to Solus, making comments like "he reminds me of when I was his age!" and "you all should aspire to be more like me and my good friend Mr. Superstes over there!"

Solus had no idea when they had become 'good friends' and frankly he didn't care, Solus would rather be neutered than be _friends_ with the chatty old man.

With a deep sigh Solus glanced over the program he was writing, in truth he was nearly done, at this point he was just adding the juicy extras that would make watching the fruits of his labour all the more hilarious.

Solus's eye flickered over to Blake, who appeared have fallen asleep, and judging by the way she way twitching and sweating slightly she was having a bad dream. _Oh well_ Solus thought _not my problem_.

* * *

 **Moments earlier**

Blake peeked above the top of her book, professor Port was still rambling about something – for the life of her Blake couldn't be bothered finding out what. Solus had that perpetual scowl of his still firmly in place; Yang was… sleeping and apparently so was Ruby.

Blake was tired, but could she really just…? Well a glance at the sisters told her that yes, she could, but should she? The internal debate lasted all of 3 seconds before her mind supplied an intelligent _meh_ on the subject and she promptly laid her head down on the table and fell asleep.

 _Through the foggy recollection her dream state Blake found herself curled up happily at her parent's side many years ago. She was a little thing, a thin white shirt and baggy pyjama pants covered her frame, raven black hair covered the top of her head. Perched on the top of her cranium were two cute little cat ears, a trait that her mother shared with her._

 _Blake wasn't asleep, but she wasn't fully awake either, she was hovering somewhere in that middle zone where she was aware of her surroundings, but everything had taken on a surreal and bizarre vibe._

 _But this was not to last, Blake's state of semi awareness was utterly shattered when a massive explosion tore through the area around her. the young girl felt as the waves of heat burned through her temporary home, awareness crashed into Blakes young mind, her father shouted something but she couldn't make it out, the explosion had seemingly deafened her._

 _Her father lifted her up and cradled the young girl to his chest and started running. As she was being carried Blake dimly noted that all around her people were running and screaming. Sound was starting to return to the girl, and with it came panic, had the humans finally mustered up the troops needed to attack them? What would happen to the rebellion if her people lost here?_

 _Suddenly her father spun 180 degrees and then there was an absolutely deafening roar of sound and heat, Blake cried out in pain when she felt her father collapse and land on top of her, what was wrong with him she wondered. Why had he fallen and hurt her?_

 _The terrible truth came a moment later when Blakes mother came to the rescue by pushing her husbands… body… off Blake._

 _And it was nothing more than a body, Blakes mother was pulling the young girl away, and while that was happening Blake got an eyeful of her fathers back, it was burnt black and there were deep gouges where shrapnel had obviously dug into the man._

 _He may still have been alive, but he wouldn't be for much longer._

 _The elder Belladonna woman grabbed Blakes wrist and pulled sharply, intent on dragging her daughter away. Blake resisted with all her might, they couldn't just leave her father! He was hurt and needed help, why was mother dragging her away?_

 _All to soon Blake was forced away from her father, and into the mass of faunas whom were rushing to defend the gaping whole on the wall. Her mother dragging her all the way._

 _As she was being dragged Blake looked around wildly trying to see her father just one more time. But this was not meant to be, a rock or stone of some kind came seemingly out of nowhere and struck the girl in the face and sent her tumbling out of her mothers grip and onto the ground._

 _Everything was a blur of pain, both emotionally and physically for Blake. She felt a warm liquid drip down the side of her face. She couldn't open her eyes, they felt like they were glued shut._

 _Distantly Blake noted someone screaming her name, so with herculean effort Blake forced her eyes open to see who called her._

 _What she saw would stay with her for the rest of her life, however short or long it may be. Her mother was running towards Blake with her arms outstretched ready to pick her up, but she never got close enough to even touch her daughter._

 _A man clad in the all black Atlas special forces uniform ran up behind mother ready to kill her. Blake tried to called out a warning, but her tongue felt like lead in her mouth, so all she could do was sit and watch dumbly from her position on the ground._

 _The man grabbed mothers mouth with his left arm and clamped down hard while forcing her head upwards. Then with his right hand he roughly slit her throat with a knife._

 _The man dropped the corpse and stalked towards where Blake lay prone, just as he was about to bring his knife down and end Blakes life his head seemingly exploded into a mist of gore. And his body just plopped down onto the ground next to where Blake was._

 _Idly in her grief racked mind Blake noted that someone must have saved her._

 _Blake crawled to the body of her mother, blood was everywhere. Was this what they had fought for? To fight for so long and for such a noble cause and THIS is what they get? To just be put down like… like…_

 _ANIMALS?!_

 _If it was at all possible her spirit deflated even more, what was the point in getting angry? She was going to die here anyway. Maybe she could even see her parents on the other side?_

 _Well, if she was going to die then she'd do it on her feet. Blake pulled herself upwards and rocked a bit on her unsteady legs. Perhaps she would go for a walk, calm herself down a little before the end._

 _Completely ignoring the sounds and sights of battle around her Blake just… walked. Not in any particular direction, she just walked away from the bodies of her parents._

 _Before long Blake found herself near the shattered command tower of the fort. And standing near the base of the crumbling building was a man, a toweringly tall man clad in pure silver armour shaped like a minotaur. Obviously this… beast was the commander of the attacking Atlasians._

 _Blake felt fear start to rise up again when the silver monster turn and look at her. oh gods, his eyes, they were glowing red in a truly terrifying way that was eerily reminiscent of Grimm._

 _The monster causally walked up to Blake and spoke in a voice that chilled her to the bone in was so nightmarish "like what you see girl? It's quite the sight isn't it? All this chaos, this destruction, its beautiful."_

 _Blake fought to control the terror she felt, that THING had spoken to her in a voice that chilled her to the bone. Ruthlessly the girl fought down her fear and said as strongly as she could "why? Why are you doing this? What did we ever do to you?" gods she hoped her voice didn't quiver._

 _The beast laughed. LAUGHED and said "to me? Nothing. This is just business, now, die"_

 _He raised his hand and a glowing ball of power formed, ready to blow her into the next dimension._

 _Blake closed her eyes. So this was it then? Killed by some silver abomination with the rest of her people? She couldn't help but feel the surge of pure terror that ran through her system. At the very least she hoped it was quick._

 _But death never found her. At least not that day._

 _Instead of feeling death claim her, Blakes eyes were startled open by a howl of agony from her would be killer. One of the many faunas commanders had survived! And he had cut off the monsters hand!_

 _Before Blake could do anything she felt the other faunas tackle her to the ground and roll on top of her as if to shield her._

 _The roar of an explosion sounded over the man._

 _Heat passed over Blake, but she was fine because the other faunas had protected her._

 _The man rolled off her and pulled himself to a standing position. His eyes locked squarely on where the silver beast had been blasted to._

 _Blake looked over to the silver body, apart from the obviously missing hand there was no sign of damage at all. Had the explosion done nothing?! What the hell was he?!_

 _Blake stood as well. She looked up at the tall bull faunas beside her "i-is it d-dead?" she asked timidly despite already knowing the answer._

 _He shook his head "I doubt it, but come, we need to get out of here"_

 _With that said he grabbed her hand and pulled her away._

A sharp poke in her side woke Blake from her nightmare, she shook her head trying to clear the memory. It didn't work.

From beside her Yang loudly said "come on Blakey, no time for sleeping! We have combat class now, and Goodwitch is finally putting up the leader boards!"

Ah yes, the leader boards. Professor Goodwitch had promised everyone that she would set up a leader board for every year level, Blake had no doubt that Solus would be at the top of the first years, after all he had wiped the floor with everyone he'd fought so far (literally in some cases)

Realizing that she had gone off on a tangent Blake made a sound that was vaguely agreeable and followed behind Yang.

* * *

This was funny, no this was friggin hilarious! Solus had just arrived at Goodwitchs combat class and sat down. When everyone had arrived and was seated the professor sent them all a message on their scrolls with the current stats for the leader board.

And it was hilarious.

Solus himself was at the top position, and was leading by over a thousand points. Something he felt quite prideful about.

Pyrrha was in second, something that she looked both infuriated and exhilarated about. And she kept giving Solus looks of 'your so going down'.

Yang was in third, something she was quite angry about. Her reaction had amused both Solus and Pyrrha, it had gone a little something like: "what?! Third place!? I don't wanna be the bronze medal! *points at Pyrrha and Solus* you two are going down!"

Fourth was Blake. Her reaction had been a solid "meh" before she went back to reading.

Coming in fifth was Ruby, she had been insanely pleased about her's and Solus' position and had tried to hug him. Not that he had allowed it.

Nora was sixth; she had just smiled and said "its hammer time". Solus didn't really want to think too deeply on the crazy girls thought process, lest he catch her crazy.

Ren was seventh, like Blake his reaction had been a simple "Okay" before he went back to trying to contain Nora.

And much to the amusement of Solus, Weiss was in eighth. Eighth. That alone was funny, but the real icing on the cake for Solus was the fact that the snow bitch had actually stopped and asked Goodwitch if she had made a mistake because "I cant be so low in the ranking"

And the professor had flat-out told the Schnee to grow up and deal with the fact that she isn't the best. Weiss had gone on quite the rage and threatened to murder Solus just because he was laughing.

After reigning everyone's attention back in, the professor had also informed everyone that solo vs team duels will be happening to test endurance.

Goodwitch peered at her scroll "team… Prawn will go first. Do we have any volunteers willing to face them?"

 _This is my moment!_ Solus thought maliciously. He stood up and spoke loudly "sure! I'll take them on!"

Goodwitch nodded her assent and beckoned him down to the arena.

Just as Solus was making his way down Ruby grabbed his left hand and spoke sharply "don't kill Weiss"

"what about if i-"

She looked stern "no!"

Solus looked a bit disgruntled but nodded anyway. Just as the merc took his first step towards the arena he suddenly turned around and spoke to all his team mates "when it begins, watch the monitors." He gestured upwards to the screens that showed the arena as well as aura levels.

With that he promptly went down to prepare.

The three girls were confused. Why would he tell them to watch the screens when they could see the fight just fine? Was he planning on using some kind of smoke bomb or something? That was why the screens were there after all, if one of the fighters did something to limit visibility the monitors had things like infa-red and night vision. What was Solus planning?

Down in the arena the combatants were facing each other, Solus on the left side by himself and team PRWN lined up on the right. Solus' eye was closed as if in deep concentration, while the others eyed his suspiciously.

"ready?" Goodwitch called, upon seeing every fighter nod she said "begin!"

Solus's eye snapped open and… he just stood there. He spread his arms out wide and gave a chilling smirk at the opposing team. This was all the more odd because said opposing team all had their weapons pointing at him, ready to shoot him with both bullets and bolts of pure dust at any moment.

If it was at all possible the mercs grin became even wider, "go on" he drawled slowly "hit me with everything you have"

The others hesitated, sure they knew Solus was the toughest fighter amongst the first years and most if not all second year students, but he was just going to let them gun him down and win the fight that easy?

Pyrrha glanced at her teammates, should she order them to shoot? They could inadvertently hurt him…

But a large part of her wanted to do it, after all he had broken her record and beat her in a fight, this was the perfect way to get back at him…

Mind made up, Pyrrha gave the order "fire!"

In a fraction of a second he was no longer visible behind the wall of explosions caused from Nora's grenade launcher, Weiss's dust explosions, Ren's automatic fire that could (and would) rip aura to sheds and Pyrrha's precision firing.

Nearly thirty seconds passed before they stoped their assault. Slowly the smoke and dust cleared from the air and Solus became visible.

And it was a shock for everyone in the room.

There he was, arms still outstretched, creepy grin still on his face. His clothes weren't even scratched. Not a single hair was out of place. _Nothing_ had changed.

All the members of team took a small step back, they were all thinking the same thing _just what the hell is he to be able to stand up to that kind of punishment!?_

Solus's eye gleamed with malice just briefly before he spoke in a low dangerous voice that promised pain "my turn now…"

Then everything went into absolute chaos.

The lights in the arena just… turned off, Leaving the entire battle field bathed in pitch darkness.

Immedently Pyrrha sprung into action "back to back!" she ordered forcefully "Weiss, light!"

Unseen by the others the schnee flourished her rapier and suddenly a spinning white snowflake appeared on the ground beneath them. It didn't provide much light, it only illuminated a very small area, enough for team PRWN to carry out their leaders orders, but not even close to being able to show where Solus was.

Pyrrha was sweating now, her heart was beating slightly erratically and she felt a little fear, but it was manageable. The Spartan took a deep breath to calm herself, okay, she could do this, just stay calm and try and feel the metal in Solus's body, she could find him that way.

While keeping her eyes locked into the darkness before her, Pyrrha pushed her semblance outwards trying to locate the illusive merc.

 _There!_

He was… behind her… so he should be moving towards Ren.

Pyrrha wheeled around and shouted a warning to her partner "Ren watch ou-

She was cut off when a gloved hand reached out and harshly grabbed Ren by his collar and pulled him into the darkness.

There was sounds of a scuffle and a few grunts, suddenly little bursts of green illumination came from the muzzle of Rens storm flowers. The images they saw were not encouraging. One moment they saw Ren both guns pointing towards the dim outline of Solus. The next they saw Ren being booted in the chest hard enough to make his shots go way off course. Then finally one of the green guns being dragged up Rens torso as semi automatic rounds ripped apart his aura and the blade gouged what was no doubt a deep wound in the green gun mans torso.

Pyrrha risked a glance at her scroll, hers, Noras, and Weiss' aura were still in the green, but Rens had dropped to 8% and was flashing red.

"Ren!" Nora Screamed as she tried to run to help her childhood friend. Pyrrha grabbed he before she could run into the darkness. "no! we need to fight him together to win!"

Pyrrha herself wasn't much better, her heart was pounding and cold sweat was running down her face. Ok… ok… calm, she could do this.

Suddenly a slight Whistling sound could heard, but the source was all to clear a moment later. One of Rens guns had been used as a boomerang and was thrown to the middle of three girls. The blade of the gun lodged itself firmly into the ground and held the weapon up. Slowly a trickle of blood ran down the blade and dropped onto the tilled floor. It was Rens blood.

Nora exploded into a fit of rage "IM COMING REN!" she screamed as she ran off into the darkness before Pyrrha or Weiss could stop her.

There was a cry on pain and then a thump, then… nothing.

With hands now shaking in slight terror Pyrrha Brought her Scroll to her eyes to see if Nora made it. She didn't, her bar was flashing red at 3% percent.

Nora's warhammer skidded into the glowing circle and stoped next to the still bloody green gun.

"P-P-P-Pyrrha what d-do we do?" Weiss asked with terror evident in her voice.

The Spartan girl opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off when Weiss let out an ear shattering screech and she too disappeared into the darkness, in the process dropping Myrtenaster.

And then suddenly the light faded completely, once again shrouding the room in complete darkness.

Pyrrha was now shaking in absolute terror, her grip on her weapons was shaky and she couldn't focus enough to use her semblance. What was she going to do?! She cried to herself, she had lost to Solus in a one on one fight when she could see him! What hope did she have now in the utter darkness!?

A sickening crunch rang out through the void all around the Spartan, followed by another screech. But the scream was abruptly cut off. And a slow nightmarish chuckle rumbled out.

Suddenly an idea came to Pyrrha's terror clouded mind. The girl scrambled towards where she thinks Weiss' dust loaded rapier was dropped.

After fumbling for nearly thirty seconds she found it and with shaky hands forced open the containers and poured the dust onto the ground. Then she forced her aura into the dust causing it to ignite.

The entire room lit up due to the bright multicoloured coloured flames.

Pyrrha took a step back and swung her gun around wildly, trying to find Solus. She couldn't see him, the terror was about to overwhelm her, this fight needed to end soon.

"WHERE ARE YOU!?" Pyrrha screamed into the darkness as tears pooled in her eyes.

Warm breath curled around the back of her neck as a slow evil sounding voice whispered in her ear "behind you."

The light went out once again, and Pyrrha screamed.

 **A/N**

 **Okay… that got a bit out of hand didn't it? Jaune is really… bad.**

 **Now before you start complaining how OP I made Jaune seem in that fight please remember what I covered last chapter, about how Argentum Mortem fought with mind games just as much as he did physically. Solus was doing the same thing, if he had fought them on a level playing field in the light then he would have lost.**

 **And damn… that stuff at the beginning of the chapter was… troubling, Solus has a greater reason for doing what he does, but for the time being I wont tell you.**

 **Ive had a few readers express confusion over the current timeline (haha) of Jaunes life, so every chapter im going to post a updated version of what you the reader should have been able to pick up so far.**

 **Jaune age 1 to 8: with parents at Dorme. fly's into rage and kills Grimm, nearly dying in the process. Has two eyes.  
GAP  
age 10: Known as subject 13, meets Summer. Has two eyes  
age ?: injured child raids military complex. Has two eyes  
GAP  
age 13: Known as Argentum Mortem. Battle of fort Independence. Looses left little finger. Has two eyes  
age 14: Fights android 15, arm torn off, nearly dies. has two eyes  
age 15 to 16: wanders newly formed glass deserts looking for something. Has one eye  
Gap  
age 16: Known as Solus Superstes. Returns to the kingdoms. Has one eye  
age 17: presumably kills Roman, recruited by Ozpin for Beacon.**

 **Now that I think about it, this may actually cause even more confusion considering the plot for arc 3 of this story. Oh well im sure you'll all work it out right? Who am I kidding, the third arc is just going to cause a massive head ache for everybody (myself included)**

 **That aside lets move onto the reviews now:  
**

 **The American Wolf:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **And thanks man, I try.**

 **Nik41:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **I hope that clears up any timeline issues you have so far. Or it could just make you even more confused... oh well.  
as for the voice's, the "rasp" one is described identically to that of another character, so read carefully. as for the other... well to be traumatised about something then you'd have to care about it right? Mortem didn't care about the people he killed. It was always just another job to him.**

 **Green Gustavo:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
yeah not gonna lie, stuff gets pretty nasty in this arc simply because it delves pretty heavily into what Jaune's life has been like, and the business that's gonna happen during the Forever Fall trip gets... messy. Something to remember when reading the flashbacks is that at this point survival is a cursed forced upon him, a curse he is working to remove.  
And thanks dude, i try, this story is like a child to me, an angry, disobedient and unruly child, but still a child.**

 **Wagner:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **And thanks man, I try.**

* * *

 **Now, this chapter Im going to try out doing an omake, its not very long and it is still cannon with the rest of the story, I just couldn't find a place for it to fit in naturally with the rest of the story.**

 **Omake**

Solus was walking down the corridor on one of the higher levels of Beacon casually puffing on one of his 'special' cigarettes, minding his own business, doing his own thing when the loud boisterous voice of professor Peter Port reached his ears.

"im telling you Oobleck! The boy is as good as gravy! Skilled and intelligent, he will make a fine hunter one day! Why, when I was around Solus' age…"

The voice drew closer and Solus panicked a little, if the Professors caught him in his currently drugged out state there would be major consequences.

Solus looked around wildly for a place to hide or escape, and just as the two professors came into view around the corner Solus spotted an open window that he could leap through.

Unfortunately, Port spotted him before he could make his escape "ah! Solus my boy we were just talking about you!"

Port turned to Oobleck and said "you have yet to have a class with him, so allow me to introduce you-" he turned back to were Solus was only to find him missing "eh!? I could have sworn he was here but a moment ago!" Port looked around and saw just the empty corridor "hmm I guess I was just imagining things then…"

"anyway… where was I Bart…? Oh yes! He and i…"

Meanwhile down several floors

Headmaster Ozpin strolled confidently through the halls of his school with his usual coffee mug in hand. Everything was going well, all the students were fine, all the staff were happy and most of all Ozpin had his precious coffee in hand. Everything was calm, serene.

But the elder professors calm was utterly shattered when as he strolled by a window a speeding dark coloured blur zoomed past screaming profanities. That couldn't be right could it? Who would be crazy enough to jump from one of the higher floors?

Ozpin shook his head, no-one that's who. The professor looked at his coffee suspiciously for a moment then shrugged and took a deep gulp of the liquid of life before continuing on his walk.

Meanwhile in the courtyard

Ruby was pacing back and forth, they had lost Solus, he had gotten stupidly drunk and high and then wandered off before anyone else on the team could catch him. How could they have let this happen!? They were supposed to be his friends, his teammates! And they had just let him go!

Yang spoke up from where she was sitting on a nearby bench "relax Rubes; he'll be fine, whats the worst that could happen?"

Ruby stopped her pacing and glared at her sister "relax? We spent over an hour looking for him! He could have ran off again! I don't wanna fight another Kraken!"

Neither of the sisters noticed Blake looking upwards and gaping like a fish and pointing.

"chill Ruby" Yang said soothingly "we'll find him eventually, and besides, knowing his luck he'll probably fall out of the sky any minute now."

Before Ruby could retort something crashed into the ground between her and Yang, breaking the concrete and causing a small cloud of dust to go into the air.

There was a moment of silence where no-one spoke, and the three girls tried to comprehend what just happened.

The cloud cleared and in a pile of broken rubble Solus became visible, despite his inebriated state he had a shit eating grin on his face and said "is anyone gonna awnser the phone?!" he yelled suddenly. He Pointed at Yang "because she fucking called it!"

With that said he passed out.

* * *

 **And that's it, please leave a review.**


	17. Discovered

Edge of life

Chapter 16

Discovered

 _Many years ago in Mistral_

 _A young blond haired boy around the age of 10 peered down the barrel of a long cruel looking sniper rifle. The boy was laying flat across his stomach on a hill top overlooking a large gathering of people below._

 _Beside the boy was a girl slightly older than him with raven black hair, in her hands she held a pair of binoculars and she too looked at the gathering._

" _Can you see the target?" the girl whispered softly_

 _The boy whispered a quiet 'yes' in return and then returned to silence. The target they spoke of was a well known politician that was quite vocal in his support of faunas rights, and the two children had been hired to kill him, and his wife at the currant this party._

" _adjust upwards elevation by 4 degrees or you'll miss 13"_

 _Both of 13s eyes shone in the near non-existent light as he tilted the barrel of the gun upwards slightly. "clear to fire now?" he asked his companion_

 _Subject 8 peered into her binoculars once more before replying with "yes"_

 _13 breathed out slowly and gently pulled down on the weapons trigger._

 _BANG!_

 _The shot echoed out over the party, the politician's head exploded into a fine red mist and his body slumped off his chair and onto the ground._

 _Almost immedently there was absolute chaos, the politicians wife, who had been sitting next to him, had leapt to her feet and started screaming and running. And soon all the other guests had followed suit._

 _13 followed the path of the wife with the scope of the rifle, listening intently to the distance and wind calculations of 8 beside him._

 _With just before he fired a second fatal shot, 13 shook his head at the sight of the running woman and muttered "don't run, you'll only die tired…" then he pulled the trigger once more._

 _BANG!_

 _It wasn't a head shot this time, instead the bullet had gone through her heart and out her back, leaving a sizable hole in her chest in the process._

" _targets eliminated, mission completed 8." 13 said with a very small smile._

 _8 matched 13's smile with one of her own and said "yes, lets collect our payment then go home."_

 _13 nodded and shuffled backwards on the ground and started to rise, as he did so the light from the shattered moon caught the sniper in his hands and small elegant words could be seen engraved into the gun, they said…_

"'The Last Thing You Never See'? what kind of name is that? Ruby asked as she peered at the mean, yet slightly worn looking sniper rifle in Solus' hands.

About an hour previous Ruby had asked Solus to a "sniper battle" because she said she had seen his skill with the weapon during his battle with the Kraken and was curious to see both the weapon itself and to see how skilled Solus was with it.

Ruby had expected to loose, Solus was an extremely powerful fighter so it would stand to reason that he would be skilled with his own sniper right?

But no, Ruby had won and Solus narrowly lost the competition. Afterwards the partners had retreated to RSYB's dorm and Solus had informed Yang and Blake of the results. And Ruby then asked to inspect Solus' rifle because "weapons are awesome!"

Which lead them to now.

Yang looked interested at the name of the weapon, and Blake looked a bit uneasy. Solus looked uninterested as he puffed on a 'special' cigarette "its not so much as name as it is a promise Ruby" he said between puffs

"I bet there's a story there! You should tell us!" Yang said brightly ignoring the acrid and funny smelling smoke that curled around Solus and wafted out the open window.

Blake sighed deeply, Yang had been doing that a lot, whenever Solus got high or drunk she would try and get him to the her and the others more about himself and what his life has been like. Blake honestly pitied the broken down merc, just a glance at his face could tell you that he has had an extremely difficult and violent life and probably didn't want to talk about it. But Yang wont take no for an answer, she just had to know about Solus for some reason.

Said merc took a deep drag of the poisonous smoke and closed his eye in contentment, when he opened his eye again he looked at Yang and said "nah… I don't think I will…"

Yang clearly looked like she was ready to ask (demand) for the information, but Solus dozed off into a light snooze immedently after he finished speaking.

"hey guys" Ruby said slightly timidly "what do you think about… you know" she finished as she was looking at Solus

Both the other girls knew exactly what Ruby was talking about, the recent fight between Solus and team PRWN, if fight was even the right word. They as a team hadn't gotten a chance to really discuss it, immedently after the fight professor Goodwitch had been _Furious_ , she had dragged the merc away and straight to Ozpin, and the normally stoic headmaster had nearly booted Solus from the school in his anger.

Solus had made a big mistake; whatever he had done to the lights in the arena had been a easy fix, although the source of the blackout couldn't be confirmed. The real problem was what Solus had done to team PRWN, Ren had been left in critical condition due to blood loss. Nora's neck almost snapped in two from the single blow Solus had given her. Weiss's arm broken, ribs over her heart near shattered and her jugular nearly collapsed. And finally Pyrrha, the least physically injured of the team, yet possibly the worst off, she fought a mental battle with the merc and lost.

And the worst part of it all, Solus showed no regret, no remorse, nothing. When asked about it he just said "I won, they lost. So what?"

Nothing had prepared the other students in the class for what they saw, most of them had only ever truly fought Grimm, never another person. And all of them knew combat to be a purely physical thing, but Solus had proven otherwise, Solus had used terror as his weapon and fear as his shield. And in the end his aura had been nearly untouched at 99% whereas none of team PRWN had ended above 10%. Talk about a crushing defeat.

But with Solus being in his currant lucid state maybe Ruby could get some answers about that fight?

So despite her slight misgivings about asking Solus when he's like this, she went ahead anyway

"um… Solus can I ask you a question?"

Despite his drugged out state of mind the merc snapped to attention to look at Ruby and said "yes sum-oh… Ruby?" his eye gleamed with suppressed guilt for half a second before returning to a blank look.

Ah yes that, in his drugged out state Solus had the habit of referring to Ruby as Summer, and he'd look at Ruby with such a blank look as if he was forcefully suppressing any emotion from showing.

"where… um did you learn to fight the way you did the other day?" the young reaper pressed.

Even in his haze Solus looked a little annoyed but he replied anyway "there… there was a silver man… and I was in Mistral…" he promptly trailed of into a fit of quiet giggles.

 _A silver man? And in Mistral?_ Ruby and Yang pondered

 _Damn that Argentum Mortem, he did this to Solus._ Blake thought

Despite her thoughts Blake decided to press on a little further "Solus did this silver man… hurt you?"

The mercs face pinched together as if deep in thought "no… he hurt other people… he… helped me?"

 _I find that hard to believe_ Blake thought while looking at Solus's maimed left hand, every time she looked at the pinkie-less hand she felt a small tugging in the back of her mind, like she was forgetting something important.

Solus took a deep swig of a brownish looking whiskey then burped loudly and sighed contentedly. He didn't pay any mind to the three girls in the room, he was perfectly happy to drink and smoke himself into oblivion while they did their own thing.

Just as he was about to take another swig of his drink Yang's hand shot out and snatched the bottle from his hands and held it just out of his reach tauntingly "come on big boy, come and get it."

Ruby sighed deeply, Yang…

Solus tried to pull himself upwards and off his bed, but failed miserably. The moment he put his weight on his legs he collapsed to the ground and started snoring loudly. Seemingly content to sleep face down on the floor.

"well… he's gonna be fun in the morning" Yang commented needlessly.

 **The next morning**

The three girls of team RSYB were already up and moving about when a low groan punctuated the stillness of the early morning. Ever so slowly Solus sat up from his position on the floor and put his head in his hands then groaned deeply once again.

"I was beginning to think you'd died in your sleep" Blake muttered without any heat.

"Oh…. Im beginning to wish I had" he groaned once more.

* * *

 **Later that day**

Solus was sitting with his team in professor Peachs class when his scroll started making some obscenely loud ringing noise, startling him from his work on the Mortem simulation for Blake and interrupting the female teacher.

"Mr Superstes! Either turn off your scroll or leave!" she barked, annoyed at the interruption.

She was surprised when instead of turning off his scroll he casually strolled out of the room laptop in hand.

Ruby and the others of team RSYB sighed deeply, Solus took things far too literally sometimes, oh well that cant be helped now.

Ruby subtlety signalled to the rest of her team to slip out the door and follow Solus while the professor wasn't looking.

As Peach turned her back to address some other students the three girl's slipped into the corridor and Ruby said "which way did he go?"

Blake signalled for the other girls to follow her down the corridor, after walking for about 30 seconds they came to a stop just before a sharp turn. Around the other side they could hear Solus talking on his scroll

"-the job?"

Whatever the reply was it obviously pleased Solus, because he gave a smirk and said "that's good, so all I have to do is go clear out the warehouse?"

No matter how much the girls strained their ears they couldn't pick up what the other speaker was saying.

"okay, tomorrow I'll meet with you and we'll discuss more details yeah?"

Solus listened for a moment more then ended the call. He took a small breath before reaching into his pocket and getting out a cigarette to smoke.

The girls all shared a look before they moved forwards and into Solus's sight. "good news Solus" said Ruby excitedly "were all going to Vale tomorrow on a team outing!"

The mercs expression didn't change as he puffed on his smoke and said "I have business in the city tomorrow, so if that's the case then im going to have to leave early."

The three girls nodded affirmatively and motioned for Solus to start walking to the dorm. All the while they were plotting the best way to follow Solus tomorrow without him noticing.

* * *

 **Meanwhile in Atlas**

An older man with pure white hair sat in a darkened room in front of a computer with his hands steepled beneath his chin. The computer was showing a recording of a fight in a darkened arena with five combatants, four of the five were standing back to back in a glowing circle and were peering into the darkness around them trying to find their opponent. Said opponent was moving in the absolute darkness with utter confidence and was lurking ever closer to the only male member of the opposing team.

Suddenly the red haired girl on the glowing circle spun around and called out to her male team mate "Ren watch ou-" but was cut off when her teammate was yanked into the darkness by the other fighter.

The others in the glowing circle looked into the darkness anxiously trying to see what was happening with the only two Males in the arena.

Unlike the three girls in the recording, the elder man could see the fight take place in the darkness, he saw the single fighter attempt to punch the other male, only for him do dodge and bring his duel automatic pistols up and fire in the general direction of the other combatant. The other fighter deftly dodged despite the oppressive darkness surrounding him, and just as nimbly the single fighter charged to the gunman and delivered a harsh kick to his chest sending the shots wide.

Almost instantly the attacker wrenched the gun from the other boys left hand, with equal speed and with an added dose of sadism the attacker jammed the barrel of the gun into the other boys gut and started firing, and dragging the still firing weapon up his opponents torso, at the same time gouging a deep wound in the gunman due to the elongated blades of the gun. The other boy fell, bleeding profusely and in dire need of medical attention. The attacker held onto the bloody gun in his hand and booted the other boy out off the arena.

Still shrouded in the oppressive darkness the only male in the arena slowly crept towards the illuminated circle of the ring. When he felt he was closed enough he raised the still bloody weapon of the defeated boy before him and threw in into the center of the glowing ring.

The blade stuck itself firmly into the ground and the blood on the blade slowly started to pool on the tiled floor.

Suddenly the ginger hammer wielding girl exploded into a fit of absolute rage and sprinted into the blackness before her. the male combatant reacted instantly, the moment the girl got into range the reached out with his left hand and took and hold of the massive war hammer, His right hand poised to strike the back of her head.

The man watching took note of the fact that the boys muscles seemed a lot larger and denser now then they had a moment ago.

The boy brought his hand down in a brutal chop to the back of the girl's neck; the blow seemed to pass right through her aura it was so powerful. The girl instantly lost consciousness and let go of her hammer as she crashed into the floor face first.

The boy kept holding the hammer in his hand even as the girl collapsed to the floor. Near silently he pushed the girl off the arena like he had with the boy before her.

A very small grin formed onto his face as he slid the hammer across the floor until it came to stop next to the green gun lodged in the floor.

The girl clad in white clothes that was providing the minimal light started to speak to her leader "P-P-P-Pyrrha what d-do we do?" for just a fraction of a second her eyes flickered to her single remaining teammate.

That was all it took.

In that single moment of distraction the boy reached out from the darkness and wrapped his right hand around the pale girls throat, instantly she was pulled into the darkness with a scream of terror. In the process dropping her weapon and extinguishing the only source of light.

The boy didn't hold her for long, instead he threw her to the ground harshly and muttered something incomprehensible.

The man watching stopped the recording, pressed a few buttons on the keyboard and then hit play again.

The muttering was still painfully quiet but the elder man was able to make out the words this time "dit is vir haar jy Schnee roes"

The man lowered the volume and kept watching.

The girl on the floor flayiled around in obvious fear, she hesitantly reached outward with her left hand into the all consuming darkness around her.

The boy grabbed the extened arm and violently twisted it around until it could go no further, then he brought his elbow down harshly onto the twisted arm. Shattering it.

An earshattering scream of pain and terror rang out, but the scream was soon cut out when the boy brought his free hand back and punched the girl right over the heart and sent her flying back to the ground where she lay wheezing and panting for air.

The boy stood over her for a moment, a feral grin of pleasure twisting his features. But the moment was fleeting. the boy, grin still in place, reached down and grabbed the fallen girl by the hair and lifted her up to his eye level. Without hesitation he spat on her face then with his free hand punched her in the throat and sent her flying out of the arena.

The boy laughed slowly, as if he were having all the fun in the world.

The boy turned and slowly walked towards his only remaining opponent whom was fumbling around in the dark trying to find the release mechanism on the other girls dust rapier.

The boy quietly stoped walking when he was directly behind the girl.

Suddenly the dust came free of the sword and almost immedently ignited into bright flames as the girl pushed her aura into the volatile powder.

The crimson haired girl swung her gun about wildly trying to spot the boy, trying to end the 'fight' as soon as possible.

"WHERE ARE YOU?!" she screamed as she cried.

The boy leaned in behind her until his breath curled around her neck "behind you" he whispered slowly.

Suddenly the video paused again. The elder man had all the information he needed. He had found him, after years of searching, he had found Argentum Mortem. And he would pay for what he has done to the Schnee's. Shirou Schnee would make sure of it.

 **A/N**

 **Oh dear we are in trouble now aren't we? Papa schnee is on the hunt and knows who Solus is! That wont end well for anyone…**

 **On another note, my incredibly pretty girlfriend has now read this story (this chapter included) and her reactions made me realise something, im being too subtle. Don't get me wrong, I like subtle, I relish it in a story infact. BUT only a select few of my dear readers seem to be picking up on some of the hints that im leaving for you, I understand that this isn't your fault, but it frustrates me to no end every time I post a new chapter. A good example of this is chapter 4. I left a** _ **huge**_ **hint about Jaunes past in the second half of the chapter, but either no-one noticed or no-one commented.**

 **Ok now onto the updated time line…**

 **Jaune age 1 to 8: with parents at Dorme. fly's into rage and kills Grimm, nearly dying in the process. Has two eyes.** **  
** **GAP** **  
** **Age 10: Known as subject 13, meets Summer. Has two eyes**

 **Age?: subjects 13 and 8 conduct a political assassination in Mistral. Has two eyes.** **  
** **Age?: injured child raids military complex. Has two eyes** **  
** **GAP** **  
** **Age 13: Known as Argentum Mortem. Battle of fort Independence. Looses left little finger. Has two eyes** **  
** **Age 14: Fights android 15, arm torn off, nearly dies. has two eyes** **  
** **Age 15 to 16: wanders newly formed glass deserts looking for something. Has one eye** **  
** **Gap** **  
** **Age 16: Known as Solus Superstes. Returns to the kingdoms. Has one eye** **  
** **Age 17: presumably kills Roman, recruited by Ozpin for Beacon.**

 **Just note that when I put "Age?:" on the list, wherever I place it may not actually be its correct position relative to everything else. So the raid and the assassination may not actually be in correct in their placement.**

 **Now onto reviews…**

 **The American Wolf:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Perhaps... your right, perhaps you're wrong. The issue with that idea is that the time line never states when the eye was lost, only that he didn't have it when he got to Vacuo.**

 **Although... what makes you think Sun survived in Vacuo long enough to ever meet Jaune? i dont think i ever said Sun was still alive...**

 **Nik41:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Yeah that, and a scene in a chapter coming, were inspired by Nolan's Batman films. Oh and you have no idea, shits gonna get messy with that simulator Hahahaha.**

 **JRMM-Martin:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Yeah, they really got their shit messed didn't they? That fight just goes to show that Solus is not really a good guy; actually one might even go so far as to say he's just another bad guy.**

 **Wagner:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **I am a firm believer that in order to win a fight you must fight in both body and mind. I learnt this from sparring (Im a martial artist) and I tried to really push on the scare tactics last chapter, so Solus can prove a point he made back in chapter 9.**

 **ShadowGOUF:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
like I mentioned above, I am a firm believer that a fight is a battle fought on two fronts, the first being the obvious physical confrontation. The other being a mental battle of wills. I try'd to really press on that fact during the fight, Solus didn't win because he is more skilled physically, but because he had already won mentally.**

 **Green Gustavo:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Hahaha yeah, don't get the wrong idea, Solus would still have lost a straight up fight. But he dominated them on a mental playing field, that's why he won.**

* * *

 **Anyway thanks for reading and leave a review!**


	18. Shattered

Edge of life

Chapter 17

Shattered

Sometimes Solus wondered if he was a cosmic joke or something, because honestly it was like every single god had sat down, found him then said "him. he will suffer cause why the hell not."

Honestly at this point Solus was liable to go on a massive murder spree just to blow off some of the excess rage he was feeling because of _these_ _two._

Your probably wondering how things had gotten to this point, what could possibly happened to drive Solus to that length of frustration and near utter rage?

As with all things involving Solus and his shattered mind he was constantly fighting in his dreams, not something that can be helped, it just happens. So that's how he stated the day, Ruby shaking him and saying something about him talking in his sleep. So already the merc was on edge, unsure what he had said and what the others had heard.

After that and a quick breakfast he the girls of team RSYB had ventured out into Vale and started to just float around and do whatever caught the girls fancy. Namely a book store with Blake, a arcade for Yang and a weapon shop for Ruby (although Solus would admit that he enjoyed seeing all the murder tools, its soothing.)

That's about when things started to go to hell.

After they were done in the store Ruby had dragged them into, the girls decided that it was time for lunch, and Blake said she knew of a place near the docks that sold great fish.

The sisters agreed and so they all went to get their food, but on the way they had been… intercepted.

Some shouting had drawn the trainee hunters attention to the pier, what they found was some blond monkey faunas running full pelt towards them.

As the monkey was running past his eyes travelled to each member of team RSYB in turn, settling first on Blake whom he spared a wink to. Then to Yang and Ruby, both of which he hardly acknowledged.

Then his eyes settled onto Solus, and he stopped. He stopped running, he just stopped moving entirely. He stood and looked into Solus' eye. Then just as said merc was getting angry enough to do something the blond faunas did the absolute last thing he expected.

He hugged him.

The girls were to stunned to react, they just stood there with their jaws hanging wide open in shock, who the hell would be crazy enough to hug someone as scary looking as Solus?

The moment of shock passed and Solus shoved the other male off him and onto the ground harshly, but the faunas leapt back up to his feet and started grinning like an idiot and looking at Solus like Christmas had come early.

"What the hell is your problem?" Solus spat trying to reign in the urge to maim the monkey.

"Hey man! Remember me!?" he near shouted in excitement "From Vacuo, remember the crawler?!" with that said he lifted his white shirt to show a star shaped scar on his left kidney.

This is about when Ruby and the others finally came back into the discussion "look whatever this is we need to go" Yang said gesturing to the police that were currently running towards the mysterious faunas that claimed to know Solus.

Solus rolled his eye and took of running down the street with the others following in close pursuit, although Solus keeping a brutal pace that was making everyone except Ruby lag behind.

Suddenly they were stopped by the sound of Yang crashing into someone and Blake yelling out for them all to stop.

Solus let out an aggravated sigh of frustration, the monkey faunas was still looking at him like he was a god made flesh.

While Yang was speaking to whomever it was that she had run into Solus turned to the only other male present and barked "is there something you wanted?"

"I… ive finally found you…" the blond boy said distantly, but brightened back up again "we are gonna be like the best friends ever!" he finished excitedly

Solus just looked the monkey blankly for a moment and then scowled fiercely "like hell we will"

Before the faunas could say anything else Yang interjected and said "okay ive apologized so lets go."

Solus glared at the male blond for a moment before glancing over to Yang and the person she ran into.

And what he saw nearly gave him his second heart attack.

It was like the stuff of nightmares, for just a brief second he saw red and his arm throbbed painfully as he looked in shock at the machine known as Penny before him. How the hell could this _freak_ still be alive!? It just wasn't possible! Not after what he did to her back in Vacuo!

With mounting terror Solus took a step backwards, completely oblivious to the sounds of his friends and the monkey speaking to him. All he could see was _her_ "are you okay mister?" _it_ asked in a cheery tone

Solus only uttered one word "freak"

Then with a speed even Ruby couldn't follow the merc bolted away out of sight even as the horrible memories consumed his fragmented mind

 _All was silent except for the quiet whistle of the wind and the heavy crunching of glass under foot._

 _And that's all there was, just on man, boy really, just wandering through the seemingly endless deserts of glass, almost without direction, but never lacking in purpose._

 _But despite the silence of the world around him all the boy could hear was the near thunderous sounds of the horrible voices that tormented his mind day and night._

"fool! You are a fool! Why did you help those weaklings?! Find her and leave!" _a horrible synthetic voice rasped in his mind_

"NO!" _a different, more child like voice screamed in his mind "_ what would they think of you now?! Look at what you've done! THIS isn't the Arc way; you are a stain on our family! _"_

 _Despite the hateful words of both voices the boy just… walked no sign or outward indication of any kind showing the raging struggle within._

"MOVE FASTER!" _the_ _synthetic voice roared_ "she could need you now! and your just WALKING!? YOU DID THIS TO HER! GO SAVE HER LIKE SHE SAVED YOU!"

 _The boy continued walking._

"She is scum, pathetic, bane of Remnant" _the child said_ "she deserves this hell, she is foul and corrupt and evil"

 _And that continued for hours, no stopping, no respite, just constantly shifting between hate, anger, guilt, resentment, remorse. It never ended, it never stopped. The wanderer had accepted that, this is what he deserved after all, he had created this hell, he owned this wasteland. This land is all he had, she wasn't with him, he searched and searched but she was never there, just more sand and glass. Always glass, always pain, never any end, always walking, always wandering._

 _Suddenly everything stilled. All was quiet, even the voices stopped momentarily. It was absolute silence that seemed to consume all the noise around him._

 _Rough painful sounding Laughter bubbled up through the wanderer's throat. SILENCE? What a joke, noise was a constant, a fact of the universe. Insane giggles punctured the air for hundreds of meters it was so loud. They would be back, they always come back. Still the laughter continued until it the wanderers chest ached from the manic chuckles. A very small dribble of blood leaked into the wanderer's mouth from his shredded throat, damn, that had hurt. A pain brought on from breathing in shards of glass during the nightmarish glass storms._

 _But suddenly a new sound made itself known, the low drone of a bullhead coming ever closer._

"take the bullhead!" _the terrifying voice exclaimed in delight_ "use it to aid the search!"

"NO!" _the child screamed_ "this is all your fault! You don't deserve such a luxury! Why don't you just DIE!?"

 _The bullhead swooped past, and out came a… girl?_

 _A ginger haired girl had jumped from the plane and landed barely 10 meters away from the wanderer._

" _Salutations!" the girl cried merrily "I have been looking for you quite some time mister lonely wanderer sir!"_

 _The wanderer didn't stop walking, even as the voices in his mind screamed their usual profanity's at him, he kept moving, hardly even acknowledging the girl._

 _But she wouldn't take no for an answer._

 _So she pulled up beside him and started walking in time with the young man. "My name is Penny! Mister Wanderer sir I have come to you with an offer from the kingdom of Atlas!" she said happily._

 _Something was wrong with this girl, she was acting very forced and… fake almost? And what was this offer she spoke of? What could Atlas want with him? All he wanted was to look for her. That's all that mattered._

" _Oh?" the wanderer said lowly despite his torn and bloody larynx._

" _The council of Atlas wants you to help us train rescue personnel so we can extract more survivors of this terrible tragedy!" the girl chirped happily_

 _This was wrong, this girl wasn't right… it was about 50 degrees out here (Celsius) and she wasn't even sweating. She was showing absolutely no signs of discomfort at the harsh conditions, hell just by her expression she might as well have been walking down the street._

 _She said she was from Atlas… she couldn't be could she? If he was right then the last time he had met someone like her it had also been in a desert…_

 _Quick as lightning the wanderers hand shot out and his hidden blade sliced across the girls upper left arm. She gave a surprised yelp of shock, but not pain the wanderer noted. Although to his surprise he felt aura, sure his blade had passed through it, but it was there. Had he been wrong? Had he just attacked a normal girl?_

 _Again in a flash the wanderer grasped her arm and inspected the new wound by peeling back the damaged flesh._

 _He saw metal, he saw wires, and most of all he saw a machine._

 _The wanderers right arm throbbed in a ghost of pain long since past. It seems like the Atlasians had finally done it, made an artificial aura and forced it onto a machine. Well he would put a stop to that._

 _Suddenly the wanderer spat in the girls face and said "oh this is precious, thought they could beat me with this automaton of fun?" just as he said that he swiped again with his wrist blade, this time aiming for her throat.  
_

 _The girl dodged then retaliated with a sharp punch to the wanderers face and said "please mister wanderer sir I don't wish to fight you!"_

The wanderer was only staggered slightly, his head tilted backwards so the machine didn't see his face. What she could see was the thin outline of his aura powering him up

" _Hmm… what a shame" he said slowly as he brought his face back around "seems like you just initiated your self destruct sequence"_

 _Despite the child in his mind screaming at him not too the wanderer screamed "five!"_

 _Suddenly his leg shot upwards with insane force and drove itself into the machines gut, so hard that if someone had been watching they could have been able to see his foot from the back of the android._

 _The wanderer walked up to where the girl had landed on her back and glared at her as she said "please! We needn't fight!" the wanderer spat on her again._

 _The android shot up from the ground and attempted to grab him, but he was too fast and jumped backwards onto his hands and kicked her with both his legs sending her into the air. "four!" he screamed as he did it_

 _The freak righted herself in the air and began to search for him as she fell. But she didn't notice that he had jumped up after her and suddenly brought both his hands down on her head harshly sending her to the ground. "three!" he yelled_

 _He fell into the small crater that the freaks landing had created, looking at her prone body, surely it hadn't been that easy? He wondered._

 _But his suspicions were proven correct when the girl shot up faster that he could react and grabbed a hold of his wrists with strength that belied her lithe frame. "grip locked. Emergency aura drain activated" she said in a completely emotionless voice_

 _The wanderer gave a sick smirk "grip locked huh? Guess im not going anywhere for awhile, how about I get a work out in?" with that said he jumped up off the ground and placed his feet firmly on the girls face._

 _He started pushing harder and harder with his legs as he said "that's right, im gonna do squats all over your face" all the while a slight metallic groaning sound could be heard._

 _He felt his aura draining rapidly, if possible he smirked wider "aww how adorable, so you want my energy then? Tell you what, take as much as you want" he pulled harder with his semblance "in exchange I'LL TAKE YOUR HANDS! TWO!"  
_

 _Suddenly a horrible ripping sound came from the machines hands as they were forcibly torn from the rest of her arms. The girl collapsed backwards onto the ground and several error warnings escaped her mouth as she stared at her now handless arms, even as some small spurts of miscellaneous fluids came out of the stumps._

 _The wanderer pulled the severed stumps off his arms then moved to stand over her and said "out of curiosity, do you feel fear android?" smirk present the whole time_

 _The machine finally looked up. And in hardly a fraction of a second of looking at the man she had come to find she rolled over and scrambled wildly with her handless arms and her legs to get out of the mini crater that they were in. the moment she was out she bolted away as fast as she could._

" _I'll take that as a yes" the wanderer said_

 _He jumped up out of the crater and lifted his left hand and a glowing ball of aura appeared and then shot out. "one" he said painfully calmly_

 _The attack hit her, and the freak was utterly destroyed, chunks of twisted metal flew off into the desert._

 _Calmly the wanderer walked towards the biggest chunk, and for nearly a full minute he looked at her severed head in amusement. Murder is fun he decided._

"Murder is fun" _the synthetic rasp said lovingly in his mind._

"you freak!" _the child screamed_ "how dare you! What did she do to you!? This is all your fault I hate you!"

 _The wanderer didn't react to the voices, he just picked a random direction and walked. Always walking, always wandering._

* * *

 **A/N**

 **And so ends one of the most rushed chapters I have ever written. Seriously until like 2 days ago I only had 300 ish words.**

 **Now your all probably wondering how the hell Jaune beat Penny so easy compared to how he went against the other android. Well the answer comes down to two points. 1) Penny didn't want to fight him 2) As it was at the time of that fight Penny was a lot weaker than she is later, doesn't have her swords, cant shoot a massive ass frickin laser and has a weaker aura.**

 **I was pleased with the turn out of last chapter, people are still missing a few things, but its getting better. But something to bear in mind is that everyone wants something, there is always motive, always a want for** _ **more**_ **than you have. That is simple human nature. So when im writing this story I try and really impress upon that, every character is looking for something, some are just more proactive about it, like Solus for example haha.**

 **Oh and just remember I do also leave (far less subtle) hints in my answers to reviews, so look out for them yeah?**

 **Now onto the reviews:**

 **Lord Corvo Attano**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Well you picked right up on the Fallout reference as well as the reference to Auburn. There are many more hints and jokes scattered throughout the story and they're just waiting to be found, so go ahead give it a go.**

 **Bov345:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
That warehouse will be a trying experience for Solus, he will loose something very...close... to him. (haha so punny)**

 **daved134:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Hunt may not be the right word. If I were Solus I would be practicing my admiral Ackbar impression right about now haha,**

 **The American Wolf:  
** **Thanks for reviewing.  
Haha i suspect you'll be right in a way you didnt expect. You'll see though. Although your certainly not wrong.**

 **Green Gustavo:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
That fight just shows how far Jaune has fallen doesn't it? no regret, no remorse. And yes haha papa Schnee has found Solus, although i dare say that he doesn't care what he did to Weiss and is looking for a more personal revenge.**

 **Nik41:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Yes, your correct, during his time with the Director Solus was trained to be a living weapon. Although i have yet to give any information on how he escaped or what actually led to that, you'll see soon enough though.  
Solus had dealings with the SDC before the Vacuo massacre. i wont elaborate anymore on that.  
Yes, Auburn is one of my favourite stories on this site. But im only borrowing the name Shirou, not the character.**

 **Lord Of Greed 90:**

 **thanks for reviewing.  
yeah i can understand that, its just frustrating sometimes when it seems like no one picks up on all the hints and near spoilers.**

 **Out of curiosity, have you noticed what im doing with those voices? Tell me if you have.**

* * *

 **And there we go, chapter 17 (gusbot3000 look its chapter 17! So I did made it haha)**

 **So please leave a review, or just shoot me a PM that works too.**


	19. The Tale of Helios

Edge of life

Chapter eighteen

The Tale of Helios

 _So this is what my life has come to_ Solus lamented silently at his seat next to the bar.

Not Juniors bar, no that place was noisy crowded and generally a irritating place to go to unless you wanted something from Junior himself.

The bar that Solus was currently drowning himself in was a dark, dingy little hole that served crappy watered down alcohol that no self respecting person would drink.

Good thing then Solus had no self respect.

The merc hadn't originally intended to come here, but in his haste to escape the freakish machine that just wouldn't _die_ he had stumbled across the questionable building. The barman had hardly spared the underage Solus a glance before serving him; such was the nature of places like this one.

As he drank Solus contemplated the ramifications of that… _monster…_ being alive. How was it possible? He had blown it to pieces, he had ripped her hands off, he had stared at he severed head for gods sake. But then she just came back, as if physical death and dismemberment meant nothing to her.

Solus couldn't help but snort at the irony of him of all people thinking that.

But the fact that she was here, android with aura just like last time, meant that those monsters that call themselves scientists had done something so utterly repulsive _again_.

You see, after his and Kira's encounter with android 15 in the Vytal badlands, the mercs had decided it best to keep an eye on any new progress Atlas made with their robotic research. And everything was fine up until a few weeks prior to the explosion that nigh destroyed Vacuo. They had done it; Atlas had found a way to give a machine aura. But not naturally.

No, it was an abomination.

Aura is literally the soul, and every aspect of a person's aura is a direct link to their personality. But a machine doesn't have a personality, sure it can be programmed to mimic liking or disliking things, programmed to mimic emotion.

But that's all fake.

But the Atlasians found a way around that. If an android can't have its own aura, then it can have someone else's. So those _bastards_ ripped the _soul_ out of some poor fool and gave it to a lifeless hunk of metal.

Now Solus would be the first person to admit that he was a cold heartless bastard, but what Atlas had done was beyond heartless. It was evil.

Admittedly half of Solus didn't care, that part of him was utterly apathetic towards the issue unless it affected him. But the other half of Solus, the _younger_ half, raged and cried for justice against such an unspeakable horror.

Stuck in such a deadlock Solus did nothing.

Solus was pulled from his thoughts when the bar door came crashing open, had his teammates found him already? Probably not, the sisters were utterly useless at anything besides fighting. And Blake hardly cared enough to bother trying to track him down so soon.

The answer came when the blonde monkey guy from earlier sat down lazily in the stool beside him.

"Bit early to start drinking don't you think?" he said casually

Normally Solus would snap at or hit a stranger that spoke to him like that. But honestly he was too mentally worn out at the moment to bother, what was the point anyway? Knowing his luck Ruby would find out and force him to apologise. And Summer would _kill_ him if he hurt Ruby's feelings or some crap like that.

Solus let out a deep sigh and said "is there something you want?"

"You really don't remember me do you?" the monkey said

Solus looked at the other boy carefully, nothing about him rung any bells, he was just your average looking monkey faunas. "Should i?" Solus said evenly.

The monkey looked a little disappointed, but pressed on "I suppose id just be another face to you, you did save hundreds of people back in Vacuo"

Solus glared into his drink, of course someone would find him eventually, the merc had hoped that he would be face down in a ditch somewhere before anyone realised who he is. "That was a different time, a different me" Solus eventually muttered

The other boy gave a small grin and said "well, different you or not, you still saved my and my families lives. And I'll always be grateful for that"

"Hmph… like it made any difference, Vacuo is lost" the merc said bitterly

"True enough I suppose. Names Sun by the way" the now named Sun said "you never told me yours"

Idly Solus swirled the drink in his hand around, after a moment pause he said "most people just call me Solus"

"Most people? Not your real name then?" Sun asked without any force or suspicion in his words.

It was refreshing for Solus in an odd way to talk to Sun, this was literally the only male near his age he had spoken to for quite some time. Other than Ren of course, although Ren seemed to… dislike Solus. Oh well, not his problem.

"No, not my real name" Solus muttered

Sun only shrugged "I suppose its better than just 'wanderer' don't you think?"

Solus didn't bother replying, too deeply lost in thought. He felt like he was forgetting something…

"so…" Sun said casually "when do you plan on heading back to Beacon?"

Ah, that's what he was forgetting, he had a job with Junior and couldn't make it back to Beacon for a day or two. Wait… what was is Goodwitch had been blabbering about this morning? Something about a trip to Forever fall? Fuck… well it was still a few days away, he could probably get back to Beacon before the trip.

He just had to find a way to inform them without actually telling them, he wasn't in the mood to deal with their crap at the moment.

Suddenly Solus became aware again that Sun was talking, why wouldn't the bloody monkey get the hint he wanted to be alone? All the hero worship was getting old.

Wait…

Hero worship? He just solved his problem.

"Sun" Solus said suddenly interrupting whatever the faunas was saying.

"yes?" Sun said, eager to hear whatever Solus had to say

"I have stuff to do for a few days, I need you to go find my team and tell them I'll try to get back before the Forever fall trip" Solus said tiredly.

"sure man, but what are you doing?" Sun asked

Solus snorted then stood up "just business" with that said he tossed a few coins on the bar table and walked slowly out of the dingy pub.

* * *

Sun watched his saviour leave, the man hadn't changed much, he was still grumpy and a little distant. But there was something… off about him, some key factor that was there when Sun first met him in Vacuo that just isn't there now. It was odd… Solus as he now go's by just seemed… Hollow. Like he was lacking the drive he had back in Vacuo.

Solus also seemed… more stable then the Wanderer that Sun had met. The Wanderer had been twitchy, always moving, never stopping even for a moment.

It was like he had been aware of things that everyone else seemed oblivious to.

Sitting in the run down old pub Sun's mind wandered to when he had met his saviour, the Lonely Wanderer.

 _They had walked for weeks, ever since the cataclysm had happened_.

 _it had been unreal, one moment everything had been normal, then the next a burning heat unlike anything the desert people had ever felt before scorched the land for miles. It was like the gods had released the flood gates, but instead of water there was something far worse. A massive wave of fire, so bright, so hot, that it burnt_ _ **EVERYTHING.**_ _All that was left was charred and ruined, the sand burned away into glass, all the houses, buildings and_ _ **everything**_ _was gone. Nothing remained._

 _Nothing except them it seemed._

 _Sun Wukong and his small family had survived. At first it had seemed a miracle, a gift from the gods. But now? it was more of a curse. For over a week they had walked, in search of help and other survivors. But they had found_ _ **nothing**_ _, just bones and glass._

 _But the horror didn't end there, they had no water, it had all evaporated in the intense heat, so for days they had walked with parched throats and little hope._

 _Then it started to rain._

 _At first they had been overjoyed, finally a stoke of good luck._

 _But then things had gotten so much worse. It didn't rain water, it rained_ _ **acid**_ _. Each droplet burned and destroyed their already blackened and scorched skin._

 _It was a nightmare._

 _That's when the Grimm came. When they were at their lowest, their weakest moment, the Grimm came in droves. Crawlers they were called, a worm like beast that dug around under the ground and would pop back up and tear flesh from bone with their razor sharp teeth._

 _That's what was happening now, a blond monkey faunas around 15 years old was swinging his red and gold staff in a deadly dance of death, he was covered in burns, bites and huge lacerations from glass shards._

 _But he fought on. Because cowering behind him were two more monkey faunas, one of them a older woman, probably in her 40's she too was covered in burns and cuts. Beside her was a small child that looked about 6 or 7 years old, the kid was the least injured, he still bore the dreadful burns and cuts, but they where less apparent, as if someone had bodily shielded him from harm._

 _The wounded boy with the staff was tiring though, his movements sluggish against his many Grimm opponents. For every crawler he killed two more would take its place, it was brutal and unforgiving. Just like the world around him had become._

 _Suddenly one of the beasts made a lunge at the child and the mother, but the other faunas was having none of that, with new found speed and strength he battered away the crawlers around him and leapt at the beast that dared attack his family. With a grunt of effort he speared the offending creature through the back._

 _But in his distraction he allowed the other beasts to attack him from behind, one of the vile creatures latched itself onto the boys shoulder and began consuming flesh. Another beast dug its teeth into the area of the boys left kidney._

 _The boy screamed in agony as he struggled violently to rid himself of the flesh eating beasts, but to no avail, the monsters began to dig their way into the boys body, consuming anything in their way._

 _Just as things were seeming the bleakest it got worse, several crawlers leapt at the cowering faunas that the boy had been protecting, mouths open wide, ready for their meal._

 _But then a miracle happened, a gleaming sliver sword came out of no where and sliced the foul beasts apart, their severed heads hitting the glass beneath them._

 _The dying boy continued screaming in pain as he collapsed to the ground, but he was glad to know that his family had been saved…_

 _Then, just as he felt the darkness consuming his mind and body, he felt the crawlers being pulled from his body, and he felt his aura get a huge boost, not enough to fill the gapping holes in his body, but enough to clot the wounds._

 _The monkey boy looked up to see his saviour, he saw a boy, much like himself with blond hair, but the other boy was different. The left side of his face was marred by a massive and recently made scar that completely cleaved out his eye. In fact the wound was so recent that it looked like a bandage should still be on, it was red and puffy._

 _The boy continued pumping aura into the faunas' body, repairing it slowly._

 _After a few moments the boy stopped and stood, his eye gazed over the other two monkey faunas for a moment then in a deep and painfully rough sounding voice he said "there is an extraction point five kilometers west of here, go there if you wish to live."_

 _Seemingly at random the boy glared off into the distance, but the moment soon passed as he began walking away._

" _wait!" the wounded faunas boy called "we'll never make it! We need help!"_

 _The scarred boy stopped moving, his head twitched to the right slightly, then he turned around and marched right back up to the other male and said "no i-" his head twitched again "fine I'll help you"  
_

 _Without a moment wasted the boy unclipped a water canteen from his belt and tossed it to the child and mother. "you should drink as well" he said to the wounded faunas on the ground._

" _no, they need it more... what are you doing?" he asked when he saw the other boy raise his had to the sky, a faint glow in his palm._

" _calling for evac" was the short reply_

 _Not a second later a glowing white beam of pure energy flew up into the sky, it shined so bright it was almost painful to look at, the energy was odd, at a glance it seemed pure and almost beautiful in nature. But the young faunas felt that it was… darker, almost regretful in nature._

 _His thoughts were cut off when another crawler burst from the glass beneath their feet, he tried to rise and fight the creature, but he was still too wounded and could hardly move._

 _He needn't have bothered though._

 _The human boy drew his sword once again, the blade gleamed a shining silver that stood in sharp contrast with the worn and tattered earthen coloured rags the boy was wearing. In moments the beast had its head sliced off, the human boy didn't waste a second, as more of the creatures burrowed out of the glass beneath their feet he stood calmly, stabbing and slicing when they got too close._

 _Suddenly the roar of a bullhead became noticeable, but the human boy continued fighting to protect the near helpless faunas he was protecting._

 _The bullhead started hovering a few feet off the ground. The boy stabbed through another grimm, but suddenly his head jerked slightly to the right and he glared at seemingly nothing. The moment of distraction allowed one of the beasts to latch onto his leg hard._

 _The boy didn't even flinch in pain, his attention just returned to the fight, with a single swipe of his blade the offending creature died. More of the beasts leapt at the human defender, but he swung his hands out, more pure white energy came, but it was more disk shaped this time._

 _Instantly the Grimm died, becoming little more than withered husks like the land around them._

 _The boy turned to the faunas he had protected, he ignored the older boy, he moved towards the young child and mother, with a small grunt of exertion he lifted them both and placed them gently in the open air craft. The woman was sobbing hysterically and thanking him but he made no sound, no noise at all._

 _He turned back to the much more wounded faunas boy, grasped him firmly under the armpits and lifted him onto the bullhead. When the faunas was secure the human took a step back and whacked the side of the aircraft, signalling for take off._

 _Just as the door was closing, the wounded faunas boy called out "who are you?"_

 _The last thing he heard before the door shut was "im just a wanderer"_

 _The door closed, and the bullhead flew away, leaving the human behind._

 **A/N**

 **And so ends chapter 18. did anyone pick up on the hints I left in the bar scene? Tell me if you did, im interested to see hoe people take the implications of it.**

 **So that explains how Sun knows Solus, even if he doesn't exactly remember it.**

 **So your probably thinking that Solus was horribly out character, that the sudden change isn't realistic. But he's just… tired. He knows things are catching up to him and he knows he cant out run karma forever. Its not fatigue of the body, but of the mind.**

 **Now my pretty girlfriend (shameless sucking up I know) brought up an interesting question the other day, she asked if the lonely wanderer was "points to head circles finger and whistles"**

 **Short answer? Yes he's friggin nuts.**

 **Long answer? He's just split between what he is and what he was.**

 **Vague spoilers aside lets get onto the reviews:**

 **daved134:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **And more has come.**

 **gusbot3000:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Haha thanks you for the nice words, as for how Penny survived... well... she wasn't really alive to begin with is she?**

 **Green Gustavo:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Things are getting a bit nasty for Solus aren't they? Even if he doesn't realise yet. When Shirou makes his move all of Remnant will hinge on the outcome.**

 **The American Wolf:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Sun is indeed alive, different, changed, scarred, but alive. But will Sun find the Wanderer from Vacuo or will he find Solus, a broken down merc? Time will tell.**

 **Nik41:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Haha im pleased my humble story is so tempting!  
How does Sun know Solus? tricky to explain... i think it would be more accurate to say that Sun DOESNT know Solus. Sun knows the Wanderer.  
But we're getting ahead of ourselves on that particular line of thought...**

 _ **Everyone please read this next part**_

 **Wagner:**

" _Tell me when a man is thrown into a pit of darkness his will and mind will break but what if a man is born in darkness would he be stronger for it or would he be lost to it._

Just food for thought"

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Yes! Exactly right! Jaune arc is dead, in his place came subject 13, and much later Solus Superstes. Jaune arc wasn't born in the darkness, he was** _ **reborn**_ **in it. He knew nothing else, he** _ **remembered**_ **nothing else.**

 **Just food for thought.**

* * *

 **Alrighty thanks for reviewing and have a merry Christmas!**


	20. When in Rome

Edge of Life

Chapter nineteen

 **A/N**

 **Just some forewarning, things get a bit gory in this chapter. You have been warned.**

When in Rome

Solus silently walked out of Juniors club, his wallet feeling quite a bit heavier then when he entered. The first half of his payment for clearing the warehouse, the second half would come later when he had actually done the job.

The task was simple, go to a dust storage warehouse, clear out any workers or security, dispose of the bodies, then leave. It was as simple as that, all he had to do was be quick and silent about it, and then he'd get another fat wad of lien for his troubles. Easy right?

Well normally yes, but Solus was just so… _tired_. Not physically, no he was as fit as a fiddle and ready to go physically. But mentally? He was exhausted. Why couldn't anything ever go his way for once? Why did everything have to go to shit after the Vacuo massacre? It just wasn't fair, why couldn't he and Kira still be together? Why did those _bastards_ have to take her from him?

In the sudden flash of rage that overtook his mind Solus lashed out and hit the wall of the building beside him. cracks spider webbed from where his fist impacted, _fucking Schnee's_ he thought bitterly _why me? Why not go screw over someone else?_

Solus sighed deeply as he felt the anger leave his body, tiredness taking its place once more.

The merc stopped at his parked jeep and climbed inside, deeply inhaling the smell of smoke and burnt leather. _Smells just like me_ Solus thought morosely as he started the car and pulled out onto the road.

Soon he was cruising down the road in the dying afternoon light, ignoring the speed sign that said 60 and instead doing 90 kph. Solus didn't care, what's the worst that could happen? Not like life could get much worse.

For the millionth time that evening the mercs scroll went off and went to voice mall. After a few moments Solus decided to listen to whatever it was. "Solus!" Ruby's voice screeched on the recording "where are you? We spent all day looking for you, and now the faunas guy from before says you spoke to him? Please just come back to us! I know your angry but please just… come to Beacon, we'll work it all out!"

 _Huh_ Solus thought idly _she's so… concerned, kind of like kira, but-_ Solus smacked the side of his head to stop that train of thought, he really didn't need to get so depressed thinking about her right before a job.

 _Right, head in the game_ Solus thought sharply as he pulled his jeep to a stop just outside of the warehouse. It didn't look like much, just your average storage facility for… the Schnee corporation. Meaning he got to kill Schnee employee's…

Suddenly Solus felt a lot happier, just the thought of murdering a Schnee related person was great.

With a small, slightly demented smile on his maimed face Solus strolled casually through the front door. What better way to make a terrifying entrance after all than the front door?

Just as he walked in the merc spoke in a deep rumbling voice "greetings Schnee workers! Welcome to the end of your live-"

Before Solus could finish his death threat to everyone in the building, something hit him in the left leg, so hard infact that the merc instantly went face first to the ground and started cursing violently as he felt his shin break from whatever hit him. he hadn't been actively channelling his aura to protect him yet, so the damage was only partially absorbed.

In an instant after hitting the ground Solus rolled over onto his back so he could face whoever attacked him.

He rolled just in time to see multicoloured eyes and a high heel boot come crashing down onto his face, instantly knocking him unconscious.

…

With a groan Solus awoke, his head felt like it was on fire, damn what had he been drinking to get him like this? Gingerly the merc put his hands over his face, but recoiled quickly once he felt the shooting pain of his evidently broken nose.

With barest movement Solus looked around him, where was he? Last he remembered he was in…

Oh yeah, a warehouse, going to murder some SDC workers. High heeled boot.

He remembered now.

As he was looking around he felt the pain of his broken shin, with a sharp grimace Solus pumped aura into the broken bone, he felt a sharp spike in pain as the energy forced the bone back into the correct position. Soon it was as healed as he could get it on such a short amount of time. It still ached and hurt something fierce, but it shouldn't impede his fighting too much. Hopefully.

Suddenly a horribly familiar voice rang out, chilling Solus to the bone "are you done playing doctor there Cyclops? Or should I wait some more?"

Solus scrambled to his feet, despite his aching knees and shin, how could that bastard still be alive? He had blasted a hole through him! DOESN'T ANYBODY JUST STAY DEAD THESE DAYS!?

"Roman" Solus spat "how are you still alive?"

The flamboyant man was standing a little ways away from Solus, twirling his cane and smoking a cigar while standing next to several crates of dust.

The room was dark, but Solus could tell that the smug bastard was smirking as he said "oh my dear bounty hunter, I had help… didn't I Neo?"

Solus was momentarily confused "Neo? Who's-"

The merc was cut off when something slammed into the back of his head with enough force to send him tumbling to the ground. But before he face planted Solus shot his hands out and caught himself and jumped back to his feet.

"you bitch!" he roared as he turned to face his new opponent, but he only turned in time to catch a glimpse of a heeled boot smash into his face, sending him flying to the ground and in a crumpled heap.

Solus hit the ground hard, the last hit having broken his nose again. He tried to rise, but a pink frilly umbrella of all things smashed into his reinforced ribs hard enough to send him flying back into a stack of crates. Making the stack collapse on top of him.

As he was recovering the merc heard Roman say "excellent job Neo, I'd say that alone is worth two scoops wouldn't you say?"

Whatever the reply was Solus didn't hear it, he burst up out of the fallen crates and finally got a look at his attacker. It was… a tiny woman. She seriously was tiny compared to Solus, she couldn't have been any bigger than 5'1 yet she had been throwing him around like a ragdoll. The was wearing a cream coloured outfit and she had half her hair pink and the other half brown, funnily enough her eyes matched her hair, just on opposite sides.

Solus felt a darker side of him taking control, and he let it. These assholes could suffer through the wrath of Mortem for all he cared "im going to make you wish you were never born bitch!" he roared as he leapt at the woman pumping his semblance into his strength.

Just as the flying punch was about to connect Solus saw the strange woman smirk, as if knowing something he didn't.

As soon as the punch hit the merc was greeted with the sound of shattering glass and the strange 'Neo' had disappeared.

Solus staggered back in shock, what the hell had happened? Where did she go?

The answer came to him when he felt a hard blow across his back from the umbrella, making him stagger forwards slightly. In retaliation Solus swung around and tried to stab the woman with his wrist blade, for a moment it looked like he had succeeded too, but yet again he was met with the sound of shattering glass.

Before he had time to recover the handle of the umbrella hooked around his ankle and yanked hard, sending him to the floor once again.

Solus landed flat on his face, his aura thankfully preventing anymore damage to his already broken and bloody nose.

"Normally I wouldn't bother killing every bloke that tried to kill me" Roman started as Solus was on the ground "but your different see? You and I, we're the same I think"

Solus tried to rise, but Neo booted him in the ribs.

"Except one little detail" Roman was moved to stand over Solus "I have friends to help me when I need it."

Roman cracked the fallen merc upside the head with his cane "you on the other hand, have no one."

Neo kicked him once again, but this time Solus used the momentum to push himself back and onto his feet. Clutching his aching ribs Solus said "we're nothing alike, you know nothing about me"

Suddenly the sound of glass shattering was heard once again, this time Neo appeared next to Solus, attempting to hit him in the gut with her umbrella. This time the merc managed to block the strike, but he wasn't fast enough to block the follow up attack to his jaw, knocking him flat on his arse.

"When I was young" Roman started as Solus scrambled to his feet "I was useless, just a wasted sack of skin."

Neo kicked Solus in his already wounded and aching shin.

"Everyone knew it, my father told me so constantly, my mother never even looked at me" Roman said seemingly uncaring to the beat down before him "I couldn't fight, I wasn't a good athlete, I wasn't smart like my brother."

Solus punched at Neo but she dodged and kicked him harshly in the chest.

"What good was I? I always wondered" Roman said nostalgically "but then one day, my brother Romulus had a toy that I wanted."

Solus pulled his machine gun from his belt and sprayed fire in the direction of Neo.

"so I took it." Roman said with a smile "I stole it from him, and he didn't even notice, I had finally found something I was good at. No, _great_ at"

Neo disappeared with the sound of shattering glass, Solus searched for the small woman, but she kicked him in the back on the knees, forcing him to kneel.

"Soon after I ran away, changed my name, became the thief I was born to be"

The handle of Neo's umbrella hooked around Solus' neck. The merc tried to pull out but she firmly placed her foot on his back, holding him there.

"it was then I decided that no one will ever look down on me ever again" Roman looked angry now, very angry "I wouldn't stand for _pity_ , no one was better than me, I wont go quietly, I wont die easily, and you wont be the one to kill me!"

Solus, trapped as he was, could do nothing to defend himself as Roman punched him in the face repeatedly, further damaging his already battered face.

After at least ten hard punch's Roman stopped, breathing heavily. The thief gestured for Neo to release him. the moment the umbrella binding him was removed Solus slumped to the ground, moaning and gasping for air.

Roman looked down on the beaten merc, malice streaked across his face. He pointed his cane downwards just in front of where Solus lay. With a twisted smirk the thief fired his weapon, creating a fiery explosion that sent Solus flying backwards into more crates.

Smoke poured off the mercs body as he slumped down, panting hard, heavily burned.

Roman's smirk turned mocking "aww don't tell me your all tuckered out already?"

After a few moments of just heavy breathing, Solus forced himself to his feet, but he was leaning heavily on the containers behind him. "n-no…" he panted out "im just getting started you scum"

"oh?" Roman replied "Neo if you would?"

Suddenly with speed Solus could hardly follow in is injured state, Neo pulled an extremely thin and dangerous looking sword out of her umbrella, and with a grace only born of years of practice shot forwards intent to impale him through the chest.

Solus tried to raise his arms to defend himself, to batter away the sword as it approached him. but his efforts were futile, the sword pierced through the mercs mid chest, pinning him to the crates behind.

Solus had been impaled, for the second time in his life.

Solus gave a wet sounding gurgle and blood spilled out his mouth. He slumped forwards over the blade, letting the blood drip onto the ground beneath his feet.

Roman moved forwards, he smirked darkly as he looked at the body of the fallen merc. The thief reached out with his left hand and grasped the messy blond hair of Solus and force his head up to look at his face.

What Roman saw chilled him to the bone.

A twisted smirk decorated Solus' face, made all the more creepy the blood freely leaking out.

And his single remaining eye was… white. The iris was gone completely, leaving the entire eye a disturbing pure white.

A deep wet sounding chuckle escaped the twisted visage of Solus "you call this impalement? The Schnee's did better"

With frightening speed Solus' right hand shot up to grasp Romans still outstretched limb. "wha-" Roman started, but was cut off when the crunching of bones filled the air and his own scream of pain filled the otherwise silent warehouse.

Again with shocking speed Solus lashed out with both legs, sending both Neo and Roman flying back onto their arses.

If possible Solus became even more terrifying, with slow deliberate movements he pulled the thin blade from his chest and twirled in menacingly around his finger. "you thought you could kill me?" he said in an almost loving voice "you thought you could kill me?" he repeated his voice rising in obvious growing fury "I AM MORTEM, I AM DEATH!"

With speed unparalleled the insane Solus shot forwards and stomped on Romans right knee, completely overpowering the other mans aura and shattering the joint beyond repair. The broken thief screamed in agony and horror.

Solus just smirked wider and reached down and grabbed Roman by the throat, lifting him to eye level. The son of Remus clawing in vain at the hand holding him.

Before either male could do any more, Neo made herself known again, by delivering a powerful axe kick to the insane mercs left shoulder…. That did nothing at all. the twisted visage of Solus turned his head to look at his attacker, a smile on his face.

Without warning Solus dropped Roman to the ground, where he collapsed into an undignified heap before scrambling away from the insane Solus.

Neo looked at Solus with newly dawning horror on her small face, what kind of freak was she fighting? She wondered. Even if she could vocalize these thoughts she wouldn't have, in and instant she jumped into action. A flying kick to her enemies face, as hard as she possibly could.

Calmly, almost lazily the powerful attack was stopped by the merc swatting his arm just in the nick of time. But Neo didn't stop there though, with hardly even a second to register the sound of shattered glass Neo was of the other side of the merc, a harsh kick shooting outwards.

But again the attack was swatted away with ease, Neo didn't hang around though, again and again she would teleport and attack the insane mercenary, but every single time he would block with painful ease

The insane Solus grinned even wider, finally deciding to stop playing around with the funny little girl.

Suddenly as Neo teleported again Solus' hand shot outwards towards seemingly nothing.

But hardly a moment later Neo appeared. Right where his hand was. The multicoloured girl let out a silent shriek of pain and horror as she looked down at the hand now inside her gut.

If possible the smirk on Solus' face became even bigger, with a demented laugh escaping his lips he pushed his hand in further, reaching up through the mortally wounded girls rib cage and pushing all the organs aside until he found what he was looking for.

When he found his prize he withdrew his hand sharply, and watched as the woman crumpled to the ground, the last vestiges of life leaving her body. Just as her eyes were about to close for the final time the insane merc showed her what he took from her body.

In his blood soaked right hand he held her still beating heart.

Lazily he tossed it right in front of her face, so the last thing she'd see before dying was her own heart.

Solus' entire body shook and convulsed, his single eye returning to its usual deep blue colouration, an ear piercing howl escaped the broken mercs lips.

When the shaking stopped Solus looked around and a deep look of regret crossed his face when he saw the body of Neo, she didn't deserve that, no one did.

He didn't exactly remember what had happened, he recalled being impaled, but that was about it, his aura must have sealed the wound on his chest, otherwise he'd be dead right now.

With slow staggered steps Solus moved towards where Roman was leaning against a railing to another floor of the building. Each step was laboured and difficult, all his muscles felt like they were on fire, his left leg felt like it was nearly broken again, making it extremely difficult to walk.

"you know ive worked out why we're not the same" Roman said roughly as Solus got about a meter away. "I always have a plan B"

As if a button had been pressed or a switch flicked, the floor beneath Solus' feet gave away. and the merc fell feet first into the substance below.

It was dust. Or more precisely it was liquid fire dust, a type of fire dust that when ignited didn't explode, just turned into a lava like liquid that burned at the delightful temperature of 700 degrees. (700 Celsius.1292 Fahrenheit)

And Solus was standing mid-thigh in the deadly dust.

Instantly Solus felt the excruciating pain of the dust, fortunately with the last dregs of his near depleted aura he was able to shield himself just enough so his legs didn't melt off. He only had a few seconds though, any longer and he would burn away liked everything else seemed too.

Purely on instinct his left leg shot upwards and out of the molten dust, ready to pull himself out of the fire. Unfortunately his left leg was the injured one, the leg still partially broken from before. So when he pushed upwards it was incredibly painful. And a lot slower than it should have been.

With a gut wrenching scream of agony Solus pulled out of the molten dust, he immedently collapsed to the ground beneath him. in blind panic he looked behind him, and to his utter horror all he had time to see was his left leg looking fine, but his right leg was gone. Burned away by the dust.

Solus had lost his leg.

His panicked mind screamed out for help, of any kind, at any cost.

He got his answer: help is coming. Mortem returns.

 **A/N**

 **Looks like Solus is going to have to rename himself legolas! Eh? Eh? Yeah you know what I mean.**

 **Im a mean person I know, im actually terrible haha.**

 **So Roman turned out to be alive, with some help from Neo. And I gave Roman some back story too, what did you guys think of that? Too much angst? I tried to keep it to a minimum.**

 **And poor Neo… what a way to go…. Staring at your own beating heart as you finally close your eyes… that's rough, but necessary for the plot im afraid.**

 **What do you think happened to Solus to put him in such a state? To make him so powerful? Im feeling generous, so I'll give you all a hint: its very similar to what happened to kid Jaune in chapter six.**

 **Oh, something that has amused me to no end, there are four characters listed in the story description, three have been introduced. The fourth has not remained idle.**

 **Anyway lets move onto the reviews…**

 **Nik41:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **You think adam cut his face? Nope, adam did nothing to his face, just his hand and leg haha**

 **Wagner:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Haha I like you, you understand. Would they be pulled in? yes he was. Will she? Perhaps… lets just say that yes, she was but she will go back and fix everything.**

 **Riook:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Light and dark are subjective. To Jaune what he does is the right thing, to others the wrong. Something to remember when reading this story is that there are no 'good' or 'evil' characters, Just different people doing what they think is right. Or doing what they think is wrong for a greater cause.**

 **eugenio4079:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
There *may* be a reason for that.**

 **Lord Of Greed 90:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Hoes indeed haha  
Oh my god... hahaha you have actually just guessed the plot of both 3 arcs hahaha good job, even if it was an accident.**

 **The American Wolf:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Back story indeed let me help clear up the time line a little for you: chapter 15 'Troubled Dreams' depicts Jaune just after he arrived at Vacuo, his meeting with Sun in 'The Tale of Helios' was less than a week after that. Meeting Penny was almost a year later.  
I hope that clears things up**

* * *

 **Merry Christmas and happy new year.**

 **Any questions comments or thoughts please leave a review or shoot me a PM.**


	21. More Power

Edge of Life

Chapter twenty

More Power

Vale was considered to be one of the most peaceful cites in the world of Remnant. The people were generally nice, the city was modern and very well protected and the nearby hunter academy was arguably the best in the world. So what could one expect to find happening in the middle of the night? Not much really, a few nightclubs and pubs still open. Overall it was a nice place to live.

The entire city was in uproar.

It had started with an unidentified aircraft roaring into the city at dizzying speeds, so fast infact that the defence turrets had almost mistaken the craft for a giant Nevermore. The military was immedently put on high alert, but soon after they discovered the craft to be a 'pelican' class heavy armour drop ship. All that wasn't the main problem though, the main problem was what came out of the pelican. Or rather who.

Argentum Mortem, the Slayer of Independence, The Mad Butcher, or as was whispered in darker corners of the world: Schnee Slayer.

The armoured behemoth had leapt from the air nearly a kilometer up, landing on a highway and then immedently bolting towards the industrial district of the city, ignoring the police that attempted to take him down.

He was looking for something and nothing will stop the Silver Death from reaching his target.

* * *

Solus leaned against the heavy shipping crate behind him, agony coursing through his veins. His night had not been going well so far, it had started pretty poorly with him getting knocked out cold, then waking up to find that Roman Torchwick was still alive. And he had help in the form of a psychopathic tiny woman with an umbrella sword.

And after a monumental beat down she had gone on to impale him with said umbrella sword.

That had _really fucking hurt_.

Then Solus seemed to black out for awhile, when he came too the tiny woman was dead and seemed to have her heart ripped out. Just delightful, more stuff to add to his already guilty conscience.

Okay so after that Solus had been very low on aura, almost to the point of having none at all. so when the merc had staggered towards the apparently injured Roman things went from 'fucked up' to 'monumentally fucked up' because Roman had a plan B if Neo died.

It was in the form in a vat of liquid fire dust.

And Solus had been forced to stand in the delightful stuff. And that had hurt like hell, but the worst part was when HIS WHOLE FUCKING LEFT LEG MELTED OFF.

That had hurt.

A lot.

After that Solus had spent the first few moments screaming in blind agony, then he spent the next few moments after that clawing his way to the laughing Roman, whom he proceeded to stab several times in the stomach for some small measure of revenge.

So that brings us to where we are now, both criminals sitting side by side, bleeding all over the place and moaning in obvious agony. Roman with his left knee and hand ground into dust, as well as the stab wounds to the gut courtesy of Solus.

Solus with a flattened nose, two black eyes, split lips, swollen cheeks, torso covered in bruises and scratches as well as a single now clotted hole that pierced through his entire body. And missing his left leg from mid thigh, though Solus was extremely lucky that his stump of a leg had been cauterized, otherwise he would had bled to death hardly a minute after loosing the limb.

"we-" Roman started but was interrupted by the hacking cough that racked his frame "we… we are the same"

Solus glanced at the crook next to him. they were nothing alike in his fatigued mind. What the hell was the dying idiot talking about?

"I-" more coughs from Roman "I understand why you think we're different." A small trickle of blood leaked down the thief's chin "I made choice's I regret, so many choices." A wheezing cough "I did what I had to do though."

Did what I had to do. Gods Solus hated those words, it seems like in recent years they were all that defined his life, what was necessary, what was right. "I used to believe-" Solus gave a wet painful cough "-that I did what was necessary. I… don't think so anymore."

Silence was all that greeted Solus in return… it seems that Roman had died for the final time.

Solus wasn't sure how much longer he laid there, bleeding out on the icy floor next to a corpse that was getting steadily colder. But after what felt like years, decades even, the merc heard the roar of sirens in the distance, the whir of air craft, and the occasional rattle of a machine gun.

Just as the dying freelancer was beginning to think that he could cling to life no longer and that help hadn't arrived in time, something exploded through the metal wall of the warehouse. Not exploded in the fire and death kind of way, but in the sense that something burst through the wall.

The hulking behemoth that had made the sudden entrance looked like the stuff of nightmares, almost entirely silver, with a few hints of a black flexible material underneath. Two large horns decorated the top of the massive suit of armour, as well as two eerie glowing red eyes that were very similar to that of the Grimm that plagued the world. And possibly the most terrifying aspect of the beast that now stood before the fallen Solus, was the twisted black smile that was seemingly burnt on to the lower face.

The hulking figure stood over the wounded merc, not saying or doing anything. Just waiting.

Solus looked upwards, nearly recoiling in outright disgust and revulsion at the sight before him, then finally coughing out between moans of pain "T-60 MK.V alpha delta 1001"

The massive armour suddenly turned around so its back was to the fallen Solus, then it slumped downwards as if the life had fled from it. Two small beeps and a hiss emitted from the suit before it seemed to… split open.

The leg and arm parts of the behemoth split down the middle and opened up, and the back lifted to reveal… nothing. Just an empty suit of armour waiting to be filled.

Solus painstakingly removed his sword and attached it magnetically to the hip of the empty power armour, then in a herculean effort he slowly pulled himself up the suits legs and into the main section of the armour. The suit then sealed back up, with a small his of air, even in his pain Solus felt utter disgust flowing through his body.

Suddenly a small voice rang out through the enclosed space of the helmet "initiating user interface"

Wires gouged their way into Solus' back, wrapping around his spine, white hot agony unlike anything else coursed through what was left of the merc, but soon the pain passed and with it came something new. Solus felt his already shattered mind fade away into the background, replaced by a part of himself he had thought locked away. He felt… power, rage, greed, envy, lust. But above all else he felt… Madness.

Argentum Mortem had returned. And he was pissed.

Mortem felt a cocktail of pain drugs enter his body through the armours medical systems, providing sweet relief to the pain all over his body, but not dulling any cognitive function at all.

Argentum Mortem had returned. And he was pissed.

The silver monster looked around his H.U.D assessing his situation, to the left there was a gauge of his overall physical condition, it did not look good, there was a small warning light and the gauge overed over 4%.

Above that there was a small read out of the armours current condition, everything was in the green, all systems functional.

To his right were two more gauges, one sitting firmly at 0% with the word aura above it. The other gauge sitting at 97% listed as fusion core.

"WARNING, AURA DEPLTEED, SEEK IMMEDENT MEDICAL ATTENTION" flashed across the visor, but was quickly dismissed by Mortem.

As smooth as if he had never lost his leg at all the dark mercenary walked out the building and into the darkness of the night, or what would have been darkness if not for the light generated by the massive 'crowd' he'd drawn with his arrival. Bullheads where hovering over the warehouse, all of them had machine gun turrets pointed threateningly at his location. Many of the aircraft had hunters and huntress's hanging out the side, ready to leap out and attack Mortem. None were Beacon students though, either they hadn't arrived yet or they were being held back.

For ground support it seemed like the entire Vale police department had lined up in their cars, barricading him in, as well as pointing all their guns at the merc.

"stand down Mortem!" an aged hunter with grey clothes and a tattered red and black cape said over a megaphone "remove your armour and submit yourself to us!"

Mortem grinned within his armour, he liked a challenge.

Oh how he would have loved to unleash his full power and create such beautiful carnage once more after so many years of dormancy… but he needed medical attention desperately, the mixture of drugs he was on would only last for so long.

He needed to get out of the city, his heavy lift Pelican was still on stand by near the outer wall, but he'd need to get as close as he could as fast as he could.

Looks like he had to run.

With his voice amplified by the suit Mortem said in an almost loving tone "Death returns"

Then he ran, surprisingly fast for a man with only one leg. With speed that belied his massive frame Mortem sprinted _through_ the police blockade, flipping the parked vehicles and likely injuring the officers that were inside.

Everyone scrambled to follow of course, all the cop cars racing down the road behind him, and all the bullheads roaring overhead. Still he ran, leaping or charging through any obstacle in his way. Soon the merc realised he was going the wrong direction, but that was amended when he simply leapt from the highway he was on to one that crossed over below and went in a different direction.

All the cop cars came to a screeching stop as the drivers tried to comprehend the mercenary leaping about 3 stories to the level below.

When Mortem landed all he got was the shattering of concrete blow his feet and a mighty rumble of all the cars overhead coming to a sharp stop. Ah how he loved the chaos. He then took of into a dead sprint again.

This time without the risk of hitting friendly units the bullheads started firing at the metal behemoth with some of their less destructive weapons, machine guns and the like.

But it hardly affected Mortem, every bullet just pinged off his powerful armour, not even leaving a scratch at most it just irritated him because of the noise.

Suddenly the merc was blasted backwards by a small explosion, not enough to hurt him at all, just enough to tear up the pavement and knock him on his arse.

When he picked himself up he was greeted with the sight of four huntsmen, all male and three of them looking very young, probably just out of Beacon. The fourth was the speaker from before. An aged man with grey clothing and a tattered red cape, he was the most worrying, the others would drop like flies to the power of Mortem. But an obviously experienced hunter would probably wipe the floor with him in his currant state.

The older man held his thick sword at his side, ready to attack at a moments notice. Two of the other hunters had swords as well, but they were held in a much more lax position, as if the underestimated Argentum Mortem of all people. The fourth and most irritating was some prick that hadn't even raised his gun, he still had it holstered at his side. Mortem decided that he would be the first to die.

"in the name of the Kingdom of Vale and its people you are under arrest for high crimes" the elder man in the front said "step out of your armour and come with us. Or don't, that would be more fun" the man grinned.

Oh that fucker was going to suffer for that, but first some fear was in order "here, in this city I staked my claim as death, tonight you shall see why" all was said in a shockingly cold and horrifying synthetic voice that sent chills running down the backs of the young hunters.

Things weren't looking too good, he could only hope that he was close enough to the walls for the pelican to pick him up…

Slowly, almost reverently Mortem drew his sword from its sheath, its shining silver blade drawing a hard contrast between the darkness of Mortem and the light of the hunters.

The elder hunter was looking at the sword with great interest and near open mouthed horror "how did you get that blade?!" he roared in near fury.

Mortem didn't bother responding with words.

With a ear shattering roar the silver beast leapt forwards, covering the 15 meter gap in an instant, and hardly a moment later the young hunter that hadn't drawn his pistols was impaled upon the ancient Arc sword, again hardly a moment later the young man was split in half by the old sword.

The other hunters leapt into action, one of the younger ones looking on in dismay and calling out "Oliver no!"

The elder hunter swung around with his sword aiming to bisect the mercenary horizontally, while the other two leapt backwards and started firing guns at Mortems face, for all the good it did.

Instead of being cleaved in half like the elder hunter expected Mortem swung his own blade around and knocked the other man away. with another sickening roar the mercenary leapt at the other two – who where still shooting him - and swung his blade down vertically with incredible force and speed.

The intended victim only partially managed to dodge, it wasn't a killing blow, but it did remove his left arm and a good chunk of ribs as well.

The hunter screamed in agony and crumpled to the ground. Instantly Mortems blade was moving again, not to finish him off, but horizontally to the other young hunter that was only now moving to counter attack the merc.

It was already too late for him though.

The legendary blade tore through the mans aura and split him in half just above the groin, making him topple over in two pieces.

Mortem had no time to gloat however, because a massive curved blade slammed down across his left shoulder and chest then forced him backwards into the pavement with jarring force. The attacker turned out to be the elder hunter from before, except now he had a massive fucking scythe and near glowing red eyes due to the obvious fury that overtook the man.

The hunter brought his weapon around to spear the bounty hunter as he was on the ground, but Mortem rolled out of the way just in the nick of time. With practiced ease Mortem swung his legs around to sweep the elder man, but the hunter dodged out of the way with nimbleness that belied his age.

Mortem didn't loose a beat though, he leapt to his feet before the man and gave a mighty swing of his sword, ready to split the other man in half down the middle.

The hunter dodged at the last second by moving just to the left out of the way, then slammed the haft of his scythe into Mortems chest. The man was surprised when the mercenary didn't react at all to the blow, he just powered through it and swung his sword horizontally to bisect the annoying hunter.

The elder man narrowly managed to dodge, by using some frankly incredible acrobatics. he had jumped into the air and seemingly rolled over the blades path and landed hardly a foot to the right of where he was a moment before.

Didn't count for anything though, the moment the elder hunter landed Mortem lashed out with is right hand and punched the man in the chest hard enough to send him flying backwards off his feet.

Mortem didn't allow him a moment of respite however, blindly charging in swinging his sword in a powerful diagonal arc that would sever the mans torso. But the hunter brought his weapon to bear just in time to block the mortal blow, but it had enough force to force him back about 2 feet. With a mighty roar Mortem head butted the annoying man with enough force to send him to his knees and his weapon clattering to the ground.

With his right hand Mortem grabbed the hunter harshly by the throat and squeezed extremely hard, if not for aura his head would likely have popped off. With his left hand he brought his sword down towards the hunters face, but the elder man was having none of it because he grabbed the handle of the blade and fought against the monstrous strength of Mortem.

Although that proved entirely futile because Mortem was _far_ stronger than should be humanly possible.

Just before his head was lobbed off the hunter rolled backwards and pulled Mortem over him, sending both fighters to the ground.

Mortem was panicking, he couldn't keep this up much longer, he was far too wounded to fight at this level for long and the cocktail of drugs that was currently being pumped into his body were just starting to wear off, meaning all the pain was starting to flood back.

In his pain Mortem had given the other fighter time to collect his weapon and attack by shifting it to its sword form and giving a hard chop to the mercenary's torso. It didn't injure him any further, no the armour was far too strong for that. But it had hurt like hell with all the pressure on his wounded chest.

The hunter jumped to his feet while Mortem stayed on the ground silently gasping in pain. The elder man saw the state Mortem was in and leapt at the opportunity to end the fight he had been loosing. He jammed his thick sword right in front of Mortems throat, making it clear that he could get a kill blow. The merc held his hands up just in front of his body, ready.

"you are under arrest you murderer" the hunter spat

"what right do you have to stop me?" Mortem wheezed

"the oppression of Argentum Mortem and The Red Lady will never return" he said while shaking his sword to emphasize his point "you. Have. Lost."

"no…" Mortem said slowly "no… no… YOU HAVE LOST!"  
suddenly blue arcs of lightning shot out of Mortems raised hands, the hunter could do nothing to defend against the surprise attack. Pure power shot fourth and tore through the mans body, he screamed and wailed in agony but Mortem didn't let up, no he had to suffer first.

After what felt like hours to the elder hunter the lightning stopped. But the damage was already done, his skin and clothes were smoking and blood was pouring out of every visible orifice, including his eyes.

The hunter crumpled to the ground and twitched a few times.

Mortem slowly rose to his feet and brought is sword up over the downed man, poised to stab him through the heart.

Just as he was about to make the mortal blow however, there was a scream of "STAY AWAY FROM MY UNCLE!" from a familiar sounding voice

Then there was a ding on the back of his armour and several warning screens popped up on his H.U.D

 **WARNING! PRIMARY FUSION CORE DAMAGED! DETONATION IMMINENT!**

Mortem ignored the message and whirled around to see whom had shot him in the back and had hit such a small target as a miniature fusion core.

It was Ruby. Holding out Crescent Rose in its sniper form.

Accompanied by just about all of Beacon it seemed. Teachers included.

Solus staggered back in shock, what had he done!? He… no… he had killed, he was about to break his oath to Summer… how could he let this happ-

Mortem crushed those petty doubts and insecurities ruthlessly, he could hear his air ship approaching, now was not the time for hesitation. With a few simple commands the critically damaged ejected from the back of the mighty suit of armour and into Mortems waiting hand.

"sorry I would stick around," Mortem started " but my ride is here" he finished while pointing with his free hand towards the newly arrived pelican heavy dropship.

Argentum casually tossed the damaged nuclear device at the nearby professor Ozpins feet, then with a leapt he landed in the air craft and flew away as fast as was possible.

Ozpin looked at the strange device at his feet… what was-?

He just read some of the tiny warnings on the side of the cylindrical object. It was nuclear, and it was about to detonate.

"EVERYBODY GET BACK!" the elder professor yelled even as he kicked it away.

The explosion that followed was massive, it knocked the assembled Beacon students and professors off their feet, as well as taking out several of the bullheads.

The night drew to a close, Mortem having lived up to his name sake, causing the death of dozens and damage in the thousands of lien.

The hunters of Vale had lost this battle.

 **A/N**

 **I was being serious in chapter 13 when I said that currant Solus in the armour would be unstoppable. Think about what you just read carefully, Argentum Mortem, missing a leg, recently impaled, likely lost a lot of blood, depleted aura… had just crushed a team of 4 hunters with little effort until he fought Qrow.**

 **Qrow didn't beat Mortem, he only survived due to the lucky timing of Ruby and the rest of Beacon. All that was done when Mortem was dead on his feet, and Qrow isn't exactly a weakling, from what ive seen he is at the very least as strong as Goodwitch is, if not far stronger.**

 **Just think of what Mortem could do if he was at his full power.**

 **All that aside, both Neo and Roman are dead now (for good that is) and that narrows down the list of obvious villains, it sort of makes you wonder what Cinder and her forces are doing…**

 **Now onto reviews…**

 **gusbot3000:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
I have never gotten a review that was quite so complementary (not that im complaining haha) and im beyond pleased that you hold me and my work in such high regard.  
Neo's death was... required for later arcs of the story. I fought over it in my plans for the story because i quite like her for what she represents, but like all good things she met her end.  
As for the return of Mortem, it will be quite the battle, members of Beacon will be involved and lets just say that the crows will be feasting this sunday when 'More Power' comes out. The return of the Silver Death will not go unnoticed by the other players.  
Just remember im always happy to trade PM's over 'Edge of Life' so never hesitate to contact me.  
Thanks again for your kind words.**

 **Wagner:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Certainly a unique mindset, don't loose that.**

 **Let me answer your question with one of my own: what is the greater motivator? Revenge? Or regret?**

 **Your thoughts…**

 **Me:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Yeah I wanted to give a bit of dimension too Romans character, you know… more than just "im bad cause why not MUHAHAHA"**

 **The American Wolf:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Yeah, all that escalated really quickly didnt it?**

 **Green Gustavo:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Things are looking pretty grimm... and things just get worse next chapter.**

 **daved134:**

 **thanks for reviewing.**

 **Happy Christmas and merry new year.**

 **eugenio4079:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Umm... how exactly would it be possible to get his real leg back? there's not anything to re-attach. But as always Solus will… return.**

 **JRMM-Martin:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Yeah, this chapter just go's to show that Solus is just not worth the trouble of fight. because it will end poorly, for everyone involved.**

* * *

 **So merry Christmas and happy new year to all.**

 **Please leave a review.**


	22. Thrice Damned

Edge of Life

Chapter Twenty-one

Thrice Damned

Shortly after the return of Mortem

Ruby watched Blake pace around the room in a fury, the younger girl hadn't expected this kind of reaction from Blake of all people.

But Ruby couldn't really comment herself, because she was angry too.

Mere hours ago team RSYB along with the rest of Beacon was called into Vale because a man long thought dead had returned. Argentum Mortem, the nightmare of Atlas, had returned. Ruby didn't really know the details about why he came back, just that he did, and by the time she and the others had gotten there her uncle Qrow was broken and bloody on the ground, with Mortem poised to deliver the kill blow.

Ruby had been angry, furious even, and in her rage she had blindly fired her precious sniper rifle at the silver hulks back. The attack seemed to have done nothing other than gain his attention.

Unfortunately the man had fled moments later, leaving behind a small metal cylindrical item which later turned out to be a miniature dust fusion reactor. Basically a smaller version of the ill-fated reactor that went off in Vacuo.

And it had detonated. Right in the heart of Vale.

With all of Beacon standing right next to it.

Fortunately professor Ozpin had recognized the device and kicked it away just moments before it exploded, good thing he did too, otherwise all the members of Beacon would be little more than paste.

Rubys own anger had calmed somewhat, but Blake's… she'd become a raging inferno of pent up aggression the moment her eyes settled onto Mortem. And when the older girl saw the mercenary get away… well it hadn't been pretty.

Yang was sitting on her bed watching Blake angrily pace around the room like a caged animal, raging like neither of the sisters had ever seen before. Why had just _seeing_ Mortem had this effect on Blake?

…had she met him before?

It wouldn't be impossible, Mortem was super well known a few years ago, so well known infact that you could hardly go anywhere in Vale without hearing his name. He was the terror of Atlas, a tool used to spread fear and dominate the enemy. But most of all, he was the only way to get in contact with the Red Lady.

If Argentum Mortem was bad, then the Red Lady was the devil incarnate.

Where he was mindless rage and slaughter, she was far more cunning. If Mortem wanted someone dead, then he'd just go kill them. If she wanted someone dead then all their family would die, all their friends would die, then, and only then would she finally end it.

She would play with her food, as if all life was just there too amuse her twisted whims.

Ruby remembered when she had first heard about the Red Lady, she had only been a little girl then, not really understanding what was going on, what she was seeing, or the effect it would have in years to come.

 _A younger Ruby sat on the ground playing with her older sister, Ruby herself was only 10 years old, young, but still aware of some of the hardships of life after loosing her mother Summer a few years ago._

 _Ruby and Yang were nearly inseparable after the lose of Summer, the woman had meant everything to the girls, they had been shattered, at first they could hardly understand what they were being told. How could Summer have died? She was super strong and could whoop Tai-yangs butt easily._

 _Overtime the girls had… learned to live with the loss, accept that she had simply been caught off guard by a lucky Grimm. But then almost a year ago uncle Qrow had quietly confided in both the girls that it hadn't been Grimm that killed their mother._

 _She was killed by people._

 _That had brought all the sorrow and pain back, what kind of monster could have killed her? Summer was the kindest person the young girls had ever met, for someone to just kill her was… soul crushing._

 _They lost a little of their faith in humanity that day._

 _That's why the two young girls weren't as shocked as they should have been when the television interrupted their play time with a news report on a brutal murder._

 _At first Tai-yang had come running into the room and switched the television on as fast as he could, ignoring his daughters entirely the man payed rapt attention to the device, not seeming to care in the slightest that the girls probably shouldn't be watching as well._

" _I repeat" the shaken looking reporter said on the screen "councillor Anderson as been killed at his own wedding, along with all the other guests including his wife to be, and- oh god we've just received video footage."_

 _The screen changed, it showed a man in a black tuxedo standing before a lovely looking woman in a wedding dress. A female priest stood hardly a meter away, the woman was of small stature, and it was impossible to tell her age due to the pure white robe she wore that covered all her body and face._

" _and you may now kiss the bride" the priest said cheerily._

 _The man leaned in and captured his new wife in a kiss. Both husband and wife looked so happy, the crowd clapping and cheering joyously._

" _such a lovely thing it is… a shame I have to interrupt all this" the priest said still using her cheery voice._

 _The newly weds looked at the priest with irritation, she wasn't meant to speak after she had wed them, and what did she mean she had to interrupt them?_

 _The bride spoke first "what on Remnant are you talking about? You-"_

 _The woman was cut short when the priest jammed a wrist mounted blade into her throat, staining her pristine white dress with blood and dealing a mortal blow to the dying lady._

 _The entire audience screamed in shock and outrage, but the husbands cry came over all "NO!" he screamed in utter rage and sorrow. The man moved to attack the false priest, but as quick as lightning her left hand shot out and…_

 _Lifted him into the air?_

 _It was strange because her hand didn't actually make any contact with him at all, just making a chocking gesture and that seemingly made him rise into the air and gasp for breath._

 _How was she doing that? Could it be her semblance?_

 _The false priest gave a small giggle then said to the prone man "you will watch, then you will die"_

 _In an instant her bloodied right hand made a careless wave towards the shocked and horrified crowd, and they all went flying backwards and crashed into the stone walls. With another gesture 2 of the mass of people were plucked out of the crowd and lifted into the air and began choking and grasping at their throats in vain. One male and one female, both had white hair and looked reasonably elderly._

" _these are your parents are they not councillor Anderson?" the killer simpered with false pity "wouldn't it be a terrible same if something were to happen to them?"_

 _The trapped councillor struggled in the air for a moment "please don't hurt them!" he choked out._

" _ah but im afraid their already dead my dear Anderson" she flicked he wrist and both the elders heads swivelled and snapped to a grotesque angles. They died instantly._

 _The prone widower gave a choked sobbed from his position in the air "why?!" he cried out._

" _Because i was payed too." The amusement was clear in her voice "well!" she said brightly "lets clear out our guests then move on to you!"_

 _With another gesture of her hand everything in the large room seemed to lift into the air, all the long benches, all the tables, literally anything regardless of wether it was bolted down or not._

 _The terrified crowd of people cowered in fear, the mad girl had killed the bride, killed the grooms parents, and now she was going to kill them next by bludgeoning them all the death._

 _With a slight chuckle the woman brought her hand down sharply and sent all the hovering objects crashing into the crowd, eliciting several pained shrieks and screams before every thing went silent._

 _Something must have hit the camera because the image crackled with static and turned on its side, in the corner of the screen a slowly expanding puddle of blood began oozing out of the small mountain of debris._

 _Quiet sobbing of the prone councillor broke the quiet "please just… kill me…"_

" _Oh I will" the murderer said happily "but before I do, let me tell you something"  
_

 _She pulled the distraught man close to her, and whispered something unintelligible in his ear. Whatever she said had a huge effect, he went as pale as a ghost and said "no… no… why would…? A-"_

 _Whatever he was going to say next was cut off when his head twisted around a full 360 degrees and he died instantly._

 _His body dropped to the ground with a soft plop._

 _Whatever was going to happen next was cut off when Tai-yang screamed in a fit of anger and threw the television remote through the screen._

 _Ruby wasn't entirely sure she understood what she had just watched, but the violence scared her, and she was shocked that people could be so mean like the lady had been. It was unfair, people shouldn't be like that to one another, everyone was supposed to be nice to each other and fight the Grimm._

 _Cause Grimm were the real enemy right?_

 _Ruby wasn't so sure anymore._

That memory was one of the things that spurred Ruby into becoming a huntress; she wanted to stop such an injustice like the 'Red Wedding' from ever happening again. Things like that just weren't fair, and if there was anything Ruby hated the most, it was unfairness.

It was unfair Yangs mother left, it was unfair Summer died when Ruby needed her, it was unfair that Tai-yang fell into a crippling depression forcing the girls to learn to fend for themselves.

Life was…. Just so unfair sometimes.

But Ruby was going to fix that, when she became a full huntress she was going to make the world a better place.

A sudden chiming sound from her scroll broke Ruby from her determined thoughts, it seems someone had sent her a message.

In an effort to calm herself down from her raging thoughts Ruby opened her scroll and promptly exclaimed in shock "its from Solus!"

Yang quickly pulled herself up and moved towards Ruby to see what the massage was, Blake even stopped her aggressive muttering and pacing and sat next to Ruby to see what the wayward mercenary had to say for himself.

Ruby tapped the view button and suddenly a video message started playing. The screen showed Solus' heavily scarred face, quickly he started speaking "Ruby" he started "you have been sent this message because I have been injured quite badly, and whatever it is I cannot return to Beacon, not yet anyway. "

All three girls shared worried looks, previous anger at him instantly vanishing.

"but whatever danger I was in has mostly passed, this message will only send if im getting medical attention and am out of any imminent danger."

That didn't do much to quell the rising panic Ruby felt for her partner.

"I will return as soon as im able."

The video cut off and was replaced by the words all capitalized 'MEET IN FOREVER FALL DURING FIELD TRIP.'

Just what had happened to Solus? Both Ruby and Yang wondered. but Blake was thinking something else _what did Mortem do to Solus?_

They would have to wait to find out.

* * *

Very far away in a hidden facility underneath a small mountain was Solus, he was laying completely in the nude on a ice cold examination table, several machines were buzzing around him doing important tasks to keep the broken merc alive.

And broken he was, there wasn't an inch of his body that wasn't covered in scratches and bruise's. there was also a gapping hole in his chest where several medical droids were busy performing a surgery to reset his broken ribs and repair any damage from his prior impalement.

Further down the table several machines were working away at the burnt stump that used to be his left leg, the robots were drilling and carving out chunks of the now useless limb, all to make way for a new highly advanced prosthetic leg.

And through all this Solus was still awake.

He screamed in agony, he wailed and cried, the pain was all consuming, all encompassing. But he thankfully couldn't move, drugs had been pumped into his system to stop him moving around during the procedure.

Three flickering holographic beings stood over the crippled man as it was happening, the first one garbed like a priest with flowing midnight black hair and pale lavender eyes spoke in a monotone "calming statement: 13, it is okay, we are here, the pain will pass"

Solus only screamed louder.

The middle figure was wearing a familiar red cloak and had silver eyes and very dark red hair. She said "pacifying words: you will recover, just hold on."

Solus wailed in agony.

The third hologram looked identical to the shattered merc on the table, minus all the scars however. "quote: survival, no matter the cost."

Solus sobbed in remorse.

 **A/N**

 **So im just going to get this out of the way right now: Kira's semblance is telekinesis. Unlike professor Goodwitch however, it is more… adaptable, more flexible in its application. There is a limit to how much she can control at once, but the limit is way too high. Also unlike Goodwitch, Kira is more inclined to bludgeon her enemies to death with literally anything that isn't bolted down, whereas Goodwitch seems to only use materials created from the devastation of a fight.**

 **Look, the point im trying to make is: Kira is absurdly over powered.**

 **I'll try to put this in scale… Kira at her best is more than powerful enough to completely ragdoll a full power Mortem.**

 **Think about that.**

 **The three holograms will probably be explained next chapter, but in the mean time, who do you guys think they are? what connection do they have to Solus? And why were they talking like that? Tell me what you think.**

 **Onto the reviews…**

 **MrHoneyXBadger:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Heh, close, but I would suggest** **You Know My Name by Chris Cornell.**

 **Fanfic shuffling:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Who ever said he was going to tell them? If you've watched the latest episode then you would know that prosthesis is possible.**

 **Lord Corvo Attano:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
hahaha overpowered indeed, but still far too weak to deal with... well, you'll see.**

 **And trust me, Kira is** _ **way**_ **worse.**

 **daved134:**

 **thanks for reviewing.**

 **Not Solus, Mortem. There is a clear distinction between the two, even if they are part of the same person.**

 **Nik41:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Yeah, Qrow got his butt whooped, and Mortem was more than half dead as well...  
It's not like there's anything to re-attach is there? It was all burnt away. So it looks like Solus is getting a prosthetic. Spoiler, but if i were Solus I'd be more concerned at what Summer and Kira do when they find out.**

And sorry, but i wouldn't know, ive never played DMC. Sorry.

 **Raven kight:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Indeed, the concept for Mortems armour i got from fallout 3 and later fallout 4. Although i feel i should point out that the armour is unique, no other sets of such armour exist in Remnant.**

 **Neutral:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Jaune died during the eclipse, reborn later perhaps… but hardly Jaune anymore, just a survivor.**

 **SMxABULM:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Oh? while i appreciate the complements what exactly do you think ive done?**

 **The American Wolf:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Yeah even when i was writing it i was thinking 'damn, go's from loosing a leg and getting impaled to beating a uber powerful hunter senseless. Busy night haha"**

 **eugenio4079:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Ominous indeed. Solus isn't the only character that will return in coming chapters, a wilted rose is on its way.**

 **Green Gustavo:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Power armour indeed, makes you wonder why he suddenly became Mortem the second he put it on.**

* * *

 **Anyway thanks for all the reviews, please don't forget to leave more.**


	23. False Immortality

Edge of life

Chapter Twenty-Two

False Immortality

 _Many years ago…_

 _This Summer person was strange, 13 decided. she admitted to being one of those vile hunters that the director had spoken about, but she was… unlike anything he could remember in his entire life._

 _She was… just… odd._

 _13 honestly didn't know how to explain the strange hunter. After they had left 13's cell the small terminator had decided to humour the odd being, by taking her to the directors arena like she asked. Because she had wanted to see the director, and that's where 13 always saw the director when he wasn't in his cell._

 _13's stomach made a soft rumble which was completely ignored by the young killer. Summer on the other hand had other ideas "are you hungry?" she asked "does Braun even feed you enough here?"_

 _Summer then reached into a pouch on her belt and pulled out a small looking rectangular bar covered in a strange sliver plastic wrapping. 13 just looked at it as if it were some kind of trap, almost like it could explode any moment._

 _Summers kind eyes looked at 13 sadly when she saw his reaction to the energy bar "its okay" Summer said slowly "its food, what… what does the director-" 13 didn't miss how the hunter all but spat the title "-feed you?"_

 _13s young mind wandered to the utterly tasteless tubes of nutrient paste the director would award the subjects with after winning in the arena, it was all he had ever eaten, infact until just now 13 wasn't even aware that there were other types of food!_

 _Actually, that raise's an interesting question, what else could 13 not know?_

" _not this…" 13 muttered clearly still fascinated by the wrapped food._

 _Summer removed the silver wrapping and pushed the bar into his hands, prompting him to eat it. Tentatively the little boy took a bite of it, in an instant he was mesmerised by the taste, 13 had never had anything like it before. It was almost surreal just how much flavour was in the little thing, beyond the literally tasteless grey stuff the director had given him in the past._

 _Quickly 13 scarfed down the rest of the little power bar, he felt like… like… in an instant 13 hurled the food back up again, narrowly missing Summers shoes with his projectile vomit._

 _Summer sighed deeply then said "its okay, I suppose it was too much at once, look at you" the hunter gestured to his extremely thin body "your as thin as a whip"_

 _13 didn't know what to say, this hunter was nothing like what the director said they were! Summer was… kind, almost like subject 8, except… nicer. Hell, he sort of felt indebted to the strange hunter, that food had been delicious!_

" _why are you here?" 13 asked completely ignoring the fact that he had just projectile vomited all over the floor._

 _The due came to a stop just outside a large silver door with red lights illuminating the center piece. Summer looked downcast for a moment, then said "cant you see this is wrong 13? The fights, the pain, the… implants?"_

 _Wrong? What did Summer mean? How were the fights wrong? Life is a competition, you compete or you die, its as simple as that. The pain… is was so they could become better, the more pain they can withstand the better they are!_

 _The implants were… words don't even describe, they were the ultimate level of perfection, when 13 finally came of age for his implants he would be overjoyed, who wouldn't want that level of power? The sheer might that the implants offered was staggering, and if it were combined with the directors 'venom' they would become… god-like. Nothing could stop subject 78 when he used venom for the first time, he became a god of destruction, it was unreal._

 _13 wanted that power._

 _The directors words tumbled around 13s young mind, 13 loved it, the power it offered… maybe he could try sharing the power of the director with Summer? "don't you see Summer? Its all for the greater good."_

 _13 felt happy knowing that he had used the same words as the director; after all, the man was never wrong._

 _In an instant Summer seemed to pounce on 13, enveloping him in a tight hug the likes of which 13 could never recall having before. Though it felt oddly familiar, like he had felt this before. But the half memory felt wrong, like it was coming across a great distance, almost like something was blocking it. "oh 13…" Summer whispered pityingly in his ear "lets hurry up and leave this place so you don't have to spend any more time with that awful director"_

 _Normally 13 would feel angry or annoyed that someone was speaking about the director is such a disrespectful way, but Summers hug was just too nice, and there was just something about the hunter that screamed out for him to trust her._

 _Trying to hide his slight embarrassment at being hugged of all things 13 quickly pushed the hunter away and said "stop that. We have arrived at the arena, the path to the directors chambers are beyond."_

 _Summer looked saddened by his rejection but quickly moved past it and onto more important matters, like finding and killing the director to save 13 and the other abused subjects. "okay… just give me a moment to call my comrades to help us with… this."_

 _Summer pulled out a small radio and spoke quietly into it; just quietly enough that 13 didn't catch all the words, just something about find a path and the words final assault. She in turn listened as whomever was on the other side was speaking, a pained grimace pulled over the hunters face, but was quickly replaced by determination._

 _Once more Summer turned to 13 and began speaking "okay, my friends will meet us in the arena, from there we go the director"_

 _13 wasn't entirely sure what 'go to the director meant' but Summer had been nothing but kind to him, so he was willing to humour the strange hunter._

 _Summer drew her silver and red edged sword and plunged in into the center of the door, with a bit of wiggling of the sword the doors lighting shut off, signifying that the magnetic seal was broken. Summer pulled the sword out and sheathed the deadly weapon._

 _The hunter turned to 13 and said "help me?" as she gestured to the door, 13 seeing no reason why not to, complied._

 _Both of them reached down and lifted the large metal door, it was extremely heavy, but manage able. But that's when things started going south, the moment the door got to about chin height an invisible force sent both 13 and Summer flying back down the corridor they just came from, whatever it was extremely powerful, it sent 13 tumbling head over heels and left him dazed and flat on the ground. Summer faired better, the hunter was able to land in a roll and come into a crouch to stop her momentum._

 _The door they had previously been trying to open also violently bent upwards and contorted messily to the ceiling. Whatever was causing this was an absolute force of nature, that door was not light by any means and to hurl both 13 and Summer back so far… well, 13 didn't want to piss off whoever was doing this. Although he had a suspicion he knew who it was._

 _Out from the shadowed and now destroyed doorway stepped… subject 8, looking pissed as all hell and covered in injuries, the young girls pale purple eyes conveyed only fury. The small terminator child had a thick black eye forming on her right side, as well as a thick cut across her forehead, and to top it all off the child also had a very broken nose._

 _8 didn't even see 13 spread across the floor, all the elder subject saw was Summer, which could be a problem 13 realized. 8 was unnaturally talented with fighting, an absolute beast from what he'd seen in the arena, 13 considered himself extremely lucky that he hadn't ever been chosen to face 8, he would have died for sure._

 _Just as 8 was about to bring her small hands together and no doubt smite Summer with her mind, 13 called out "no! 8 wait!"_

 _Whatever 8 was going to do, she, luckily for Summer, stopped. "13?" 8 called out questioningly "what are you doing with a hunter" she all but hissed the final word._

 _13 and Summer pulled themselves to their feet, Summer wisely stayed silent as 13 tried to pacify 8 "this one is different. Summer here helped me, healed my wounds. In return she asked if I could take her to the director, were just waiting for her friends now."_

" _13!" 8 said sharply "hunters are evil! Look at what one of them did to me!"_

 _Summer chose her moment to jump back into the argument "a hunter did that to you?" Summer asked with barely contained anger, not at 8, but at seeing an injured child._

" _yes" 8 all but spat at Summer "his body is back there" she gestured back into the arena._

 _Summer grimaced when she heard of her companions fate, the pained look didn't leave her face for quite some time. "are you okay 8?" asked the obviously concerned 13._

 _8 didn't look too pleased that Summer was still alive, but she was going to let it slide for 13 "yes im fine." She said softly, but then her words turned sharp "your… friend can wait in the arena with us, but when her… allies come you and I will go to the director for new instructions"_

 _13 quickly complied to the older and far more powerful subject "yes subject 8"_

With a pained gasp Solus awoke from his pain induced slumber, he was still in the surgical room of the directors facility, the walls were a plain steel colour with pale blue lights shining from the ceiling.

Slowly the flat examination table Solus was on began raising itself vertically, forcing him into a standing position, even if he couldn't touch the ground due to the thick metal restraints over his neck wrists and ankles.

With a sharp click the restraints retracted and Solus was sent crashing onto the floor. As the broken merc lay there he felt a flood of new sensory data crash into his perpetually fatigued mind. The overall jist of the information was that his new left leg was flat across the ground, with the heel slumped inwards.

Solus rolled over onto his back, gathered his thoughts then looked down at the brand new machine leg to replace his old one. As his eye travelled down he idly noted that he was still naked, but little bit of information was quickly ignored when his eye fell upon the gleaming silver skeletal limb.

It looked like it was made from pure silver, but Solus knew that it wasn't, it was made from the extremely dense, extremely heavy material called Tungsten. The leg itself was pulled from the designs for the directors 'implants' and as such, was almost impractically heavy. How did Kira ever deal with this? Solus wondered idly

"pointed statement: by getting the full upgrade 13" a hologram of Kira as she was just before her death fizzed into existence above the fallen Solus.

Solus looked at the hologram in a mixture of depression and distaste and said "I never needed too did i?"

Another hologram fizzled into life, this one of Summer, still wearing her prized red cloak, her silver eyes boring into Solus as he tried to get up "encouragement: and you still don't. you have enough of Braun's devices in you anyway."

Solus finally managed to get to his feet, or foot as it were. He staggered out of the medical bay, almost collapsing a few times due to his difficulty with his new leg, the thing weighed like a tonne.

"13!" Solus bellowed.

A third hologram appeared next to him, this one looked identical to the merc in every single way, except it didn't have any of the scars, only pure smooth skin decorated his face and two deep blue eyes.

"Tired repetition: we both know you don't really want to remove them" the Solus replica said.

By them it meant the other holograms, as much as Solus wanted both Summer and Kira to be alive again, he couldn't bear to look at their avatars and see the women he failed. All he saw were pale imitations of the woman who saved him, and the woman he loved.

The director was a brilliant man, morally dubious at best, but frighteningly intelligent. Many years ago he found a way for his subjects to serve him and his master even in death. Every subject had a small chip implanted into their brain, and every action, every thought, everything about each subject was recorded and copied. During life this meant that each subject could have tech aid no matter the circumstances, during death this meant the director had another offering for his master.

Solus had… saved Summer by putting her in the system when she was dying, at the time he had thought he was doing the right thing. It guaranteed immortality, and who wouldn't want to live forever?

He had been such a fool back then, to think immortality was the ultimate goal in life, and now all he wanted was an end, the irony was delicious.

The hologram of kira appeared before Solus once again "concerned request: 13, you really should get the full upgrade, even more so now that you refuse to wear your armour"

As Solus staggered down the corridor he kept his eye firmly away from the flickering hologram of Kira, whose artificial pale purple eyes bored into him with startling intensity "you know why I don't 8" Solus muttered as he entered a new room.

The room was filled with computers and hovering holographic monitors, each screen showed something different. In the corner of the room there was a tall metal locker, Solus quickly staggered over to it and clothed him self.

"confused statement: but 13" the hologram of kira said as he was pulling on some faded blue jeans "you could become far more powerful-"

"I don't want more power!" Solus spat "I just want…. to die. Can't you see that?! You're meant to be her aren't you!?"

Solus looked pained as he staggered over to sit in the chair in front of the computer screens. He placed his head in his hands and sighed deeply. "direct quote: survival, not matter the cost." The holographic Kira stated.

Once more Solus sighed deeply, mental fatigue washing over his already weary spirit. "Summer" the merc muttered ignoring the words of Kira's avatar "Summer, I met Ruby."

The image of Summer Rose appeared before the damaged merc "hesitant excitement: Ruby you say?" the projection asked "is she in Beacon with you? Is she well?"

"She's my partner…" Solus muttered, face still In his hands.

"cautious request: will you bring her Burning Rose?"

Solus just nodded his head, he supposed that it was only right that Ruby get Summers old sword, it wasn't doing any good gathering dust in this hellish place.

"13" Solus muttered as he rose from his seat to go collect the weapon, his own virtual avatar appeared, "finish the program for Blake for me would you?" the hologram nodded then vanished once more.

he didn't really need to speak aloud to contact his avatar, it was literally him and knew all his thoughts and memories, but the sound made the beleaguered bounty hunter feel less alone. He was after all, the only living thing in the entire facility.

Just as he was leaving the room, his own voice burned into his mind "condescending statement: these code lines are wrong: 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01100110 01110010 01101111 01101101 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100110 01110101 01110100 01110101 01110010 01100101 00100000 01100001 01101110 00100000 01101111 01101100 01100100 01100101 01110010 00100000 01110010 01110101 01100010 01111001 00100000 01110111 01101001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101101 01100101 00101100 00100000 01110011 01101000 01100101 00100000 01101000 01101111 01101100 01100100 01110011 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110011 01100001 01101100 01110110 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01001010 01100001 01110101 01101110 01100101 00101110"

"fix it then" Solus snarled internally.

* * *

Ruby, Yang and Blake gave a strong sigh of relief when Professor Port finished his rambling lecture about his own greatness and how they should all aspire to be like him and his "good friend" Solus. All three girls were utterly confused as to why the elder teacher liked Solus so much, he hardly ever turned up to class, and when he did all the merc did was use his computer, so why the hell would Port like him so much?

Well, they were going to find out.

The bell rang, signifying the beginning of lunch, and all the other students in the room quickly left the room lest they be caught by the chatty professor. The girls of team RSYB didn't leave however, they were going to ask Port and find out the truth.

"Professor?" Ruby asked just as the last students left the room.

"ah, yes miss Rose, what is it? Do you have questions about the story I told?"

Yang quickly interjected before the old teacher could start up again "no! er… I mean we um… a question about Solus."

Port snorted, "you know more about him than I do im afraid."

Ruby took over again "what she means is, why do you like him so much?"

The usually jovial professor abruptly sighed and sat down on his comfy looking desk chair. With an unusually serious tone he said "if it were anyone else except his own team I would lie, but for you girls I will give you a choice, do you want to know the truth or what makes you happy?"

All three girls where slightly startled by the professors reaction, could the truth be that serious? Minds made up all three girls said "truth" simultaneously.

In an instant the girls could _feel_ the anger rolling off the elderly professor, it was palpable "your all pathetic" Port all but hissed "you hesitate, you waste time, you do flashy pointless moves that will cost you your lives one day.'

…what?

Port continued "when I first met Solus in the forest before initiation I thought he was going to be another sad excuse for a true hunter, playing with his food, dragging the fight out like everyone else of your generation does."

Yang was the first to regain her composure "what? We don't do th-"

"but you do!" Port ranted "you pause to give your opponent time to recover, you _always_ try to end with flashy finishers. You. Are. Pathetic."

Yang was in outright denial of what the professor was saying, but both Ruby and Blake seemed to be thinking over his words. "but Solus isn't like that" Port continued slightly calmer "every move he makes is so he can end the fight, and defeat his enemy. Take a lesson from him, you might learn something."

Port paused, took a deep breath then said:

"now get out"

Team RSYB fled the room, contemplating the surprisingly harsh words from their professor.

 **A/N**

 **And so ends one of the single hardest chapters to write, it answered a lot of questions and no doubt made even more. And you finally know for sure whether or not Kira is alive. And you got more information on Summer, so that's always fun.**

 **Speaking of Summer and that flashback, think carefully about what subject 8 (young Kira) had just done. She had just killed a fully trained hunter. Think about that.**

 **Oh and Yay! Solus has a new leg! Even if he isn't quite used to it yet.**

 **About the stuff with Port, its not to far fetched for me to write him like that, in cannon it has been pointed out (I forget when and by who) that the younger generation relies too much on their weapons, this is just an extension of that line of thought.**

 **/**

 **All that aside lets move onto the reviews…**

 **Fanfic shuffling:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Solus and Mortem are indeed the same person, although i think it would be more accurate to say that Mortem is what he became, and Solus is a broken version of what he could have been.  
Yes, the secret wont last forever, his team will find out eventually... but i daresay they have other things on their minds at the time haha. The world burns, I doubt they will care. **

**Blaiseingfire:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

" **the difference between gods and demons largely depends on where your standing at the time."**

 **MrHoneyXBadger:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
It is indeed Summer, as for Raven... well, you'll see soon i suppose... poor Raven…**

 **The American Wolf:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **When I said Kira would be featured in real time this isn't what you expected is it? Well im sorry to say, but she is dead, has been for years by this point. But her story didn't end there, it was just another beginning.**

 **Neutral:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Yeah, think darth Vader except without asthma haha.**

 **Nope, not a new place, just the directors old base.**

 **Nik41:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **This chapter clears things up hopefully…**

 **an idea giver:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **The world isn't all sunshine and rainbows, things don't always turn out well for the 'hero' there is no miracle cure, simply pain. I appreciate the idea and all, but for this story I wanted to show a different kind of narrative.**

 **Wagner:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **There is no evil, just a different point of view. Remember every villain is the hero of their own story.**

 **Me:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Thanks dude, I try.**

 **Well currently were on the tail end of the second arc, there will be 2 more arcs in total, the third being a conclusion of sorts and the 4 being the epilogue.**

 **Warhawk'42:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Haha, i wouldn't be a proper fanfic writer if i didnt leave a cliff hanger every now and then would i?**

* * *

 **As always, please leave a review.**


	24. Sister?

Edge of Life

Chapter twenty-three.

Sister?

 _It was cold, freezing; the snow covered the ground thickly, cast into an eerie light by the pale moon._

 _13 didn't know why he was doing this… he felt like an absolute fool._

 _It was his first time he could remember being outside the directors facility, although now it would be more accurate to say that the base belonged to him and 8 now. It was still hard to believe the director and all the other subjects were dead… only days before the director had been alive and well, now he was little more than paste on the ground – something his avatar had been less than pleased about._

 _The reason 13 was out here, on some random island looking for some dingy shack, was because of Summer. Or her new avatar anyway. She had been terribly saddened by how things ended, and despite 13s numerous apologies and claims that he was only trying to help, she couldn't accept it, saying it wasn't his or 8s fault when it obviously was._

 _Summer had only one request, at the time 13 had been distraught enough to agree to anything, but now… well it was too late, he could see the little house now._

 _Summer had begged, or as close as she could to begging while being an emotionless machine, that 13 take her prized red cloak off her mangled body and take it to her daughter._

 _8 had stayed back at the base so she could give him directions as well as clean up the bodies of their former comrades and the fallen hunters._

 _Suddenly 13 was glad that 8 had chosen to deliver the cloak, he wasn't sure he could have taken that._

 _Silently 13 crept around the small home, staying hidden in the bushes and using the cover of the night to stay hidden. He could see lights on inside meaning that the Summers family was in, probably doing one of the absurdly time wasting family things Summer had told him about. The deceased huntress had mentioned something about something called Christmas or some nonsense, it was supposed to a holiday day where everyone got gifts for no apparent reason._

 _13 didn't really care, he was freezing his arse off in the snow, and his deep injuries from the recent battle with the other subjects were hurting something fierce. He just wanted to get this done with and leave, maybe find something warm to eat as well._

 _Being as stealthy as he possibly could 13 crept up to the back of the house, following Summers instructions on how to find her daughters room. Cringing slightly at the noise 13 jumped up with a slight semblance boost just high enough for him to reach the slanted roofing of the back porch. Snow tumbled and fell off as his small form pulled upwards trying to stay hidden._

 _13 waited in silence for a few moments, hoping that none of the people inside had heard his slightly less stealthy leap. After a few moments of nothing 13 started moving again, he could hear the faint sound of voices on the lower floor of the house, two voices clearly male and two others being clearly female._

 _One of those is Summers daughter... 13 thought to himself bitterly, his utter failure still stung. If only he could go back and try again, maybe if he did something different…_

 _13 was still at a slight loss as to why he cared so much, he had only known the woman for a few hours. But she had stirred feelings he didn't know existed, Summers whole demeanour towards him had struck such familiarity and warmth he couldn't remember but knew he had once had…_

 _It was maddening._

 _It was even worse knowing that he had a family, pathetic and weak willed like Summers, but his was dead and gone. He even had something to call his own now: a name. not just a number, not just an arbitrary title, a name._

 _And it meant nothing to him._

 _He wasn't that person, not anymore. The memories had been locked away by the director, whether he would ever regain them didn't matter, he was subject 13 now. maybe someday he would choose a new name for himself, a new title that meant nothing. It was all pointless anyway, its like 8 had said, in a hundred years they will be gone, so will their names. Just another speck that didn't even matter._

 _Shaking his head 13 refocussed on the task at hand, silently he crept up to the window that Summer said belonged to her daughter Ruby. Luckily it wasn't locked and 13 was able to slip into the room silently, with slight shock that one person could own so much stuff he looked around the cosy looking room. It was painted all in soft colours of red, nothing to sharp or harsh, but it all seemed to blend together nicely. Stuffed toy animals littered the floor and the strawberry themed bed coverings. 13 couldn't help but gape at how much one little girl owned, it was unreal for him, for as long as he could remember, or as little as he can remember as the case may be, he had never had stuff like this…_

 _Well there was no point hanging around, even if it was warm and smelled like cookies… with a slight sigh 13 pulled the cloak from around his own body and folded it up neatly before placing it on the bed._

 _13 sighed deeply, knowing that the return trip off the island and back to the facility will be far, far colder and hard to endure without the warmth that the ruby red cloak offered. But he owed that much to Summer, she had returned freedom he didn't know he had lost…_

 _With a start 13 realised that he could hear soft footsteps approaching the door, it was too late for him to back out the window. Desperately 13s eyes darted around the small room looking for somewhere to hide, eyes settling of the bed he quickly rolled underneath just in time as the door opened. 13 moaned silently from his hiding place, he'd poped some stiches in the back of his shoulder when he went under, he could feel the small trickle of blood roll down his back._

 _Ignoring the reopened wound 13 took a small peek outside his hiding place, he saw whom he assumed to be Summers daughter, with matching deep red hair and slight figure. The girl gave a soft gasp when she saw the slightly sodden cloak folded on her bed, she looked shocked, quickly the girl scooped up the cloak and ran back out the door calling out "dad! Uncle Qrow! Look its mummy's cloak!"_

 _13 didn't waste a moment, in an instant he rolled out from under the bed, then escaped back into the freezing night outside. His task was complete, time to return home, 8 was waiting for him._

Solus peered down the scope of his beloved sniper rifle, down the scope he could see several Beacon students milling around collecting sap from various red leafed trees. Teams PRWN and RSYB were all huddled around doing their own thing, team CRDL was a little ways off on a nearby hill. Upon slightly closer inspection Solus noted that Ruby was speaking to the Schnee bitch just a little past the rest of the teams, what could they be talking about? If the Schnee girl was planning on doing something to Ruby there would be hell to pay. He owed Summer that much.

The reason Solus was looking at the assembled trainee hunters and not actually going down there to join them was, not that he'd admit it to anyone else, because he was slightly nervous about explaining things to his team. He knew it was foolish and irrational, but he couldn't help it. He had left on such bad terms, and then the message he had sent… well it would raise questions he didn't want to answer.

That, and the fact he still had a very noticeable limp due to his prosthetic leg, and he had to use his sword as a sort of cane to help him move around. It wasn't that the fake limb pained him much, it was more that he wasn't used to using it. He had put a fake skin covering and bio gel so it could conduct his own twisted aura, but still it felt stiff and hard to move, and every now and then a whisper of pain lanced through the fake limb. He knew it was just phantom pain and wasn't real, but he still felt it.

Solus' attention was dragged from his own grey thoughts by something crashing into the ground between Ruby and the Schnee girl, whatever it was covered both girls in the… Grimm attracting sap…. Fuck.

In anger Solus traced back the flight path of the sap and found the utter fools that would be so stupid as to throw the sap. His rage began to mount ever higher when the merc saw Cardin pointing and laughing while one of his goons prepared a box that was rattling with something within. Did the fool intend to throw the box as well? Well, Solus was already furious, and wasn't going to let that stand.

With a slight grunt the merc adjusted his aim to a jar of sap that another member of Cardinal was holding and fired. In an instant the jar exploded and the red sap covered the rest of the all male team. Cardin was sputtering in apparent anger, but Solus was too far gone to care, once more he adjusted his aim, this time onto the box and fired.

The box seemingly exploded and a swarm of rapier wasps burst out angrily buzzing about and charging towards the nearest source of sap.

That being Cardin and the rest of his team.

A terrible roar broke Solus' amusement over seeing Cardin get swarmed by the angry insects. The merc paled when he realised that the sap on Ruby and Weiss must have attracted the attention of something big. With hastily adjusted aim Solus looked over to see what had caused such a noise, his single eye widened when he saw the three _massive_ ursa covered in bone spikes signifying that they were alphas.

 _Shit! Shit! Shit!_ Solus thought franticly, they were too much; the young hunters wouldn't be able to deal with the ursi without help. He couldn't just sit here and snipe them he needed to get in there, he needed to make sure Ruby Survived…

Solus forced himself to his feet and folded his sniper up carefully before placing it on his belt. Hastily he reached down to the ground where Crocea Mors had lain beside him and picked the ancient weapon up, he couldn't put it on his back like he usually did, his 'gift' to Ruby from Summer was there, completely wrapped in protective cloth.

With the aid of his sword as a crutch Solus moved towards the edge of the small cliff, with a sigh he adjusted his rucksack and began forcing his semblance into his legs. Muscles bulged and expanded, almost to the point of straining his pants but not quite.

After almost 15 seconds of pushing all his semblance into his leg strength Solus leapt. For a few peaceful moments the merc soared through the air, but the peace didn't last, the sounds of battle were drawing closer, and he would be ready.

The jump didn't get him all the way there, only about half way. Which was still pretty good considering he had been over half a kilometer away. When he came to the ground in the midpoint the merc didn't waste any time before leaping again. This time he drew his blade while in the air, the majestic sword in his right hand, and the leather covered scabbard in his left. Ready to bring the fight to the Grimm.

* * *

 **Moments earlier**

Ruby and the other girls of team RSYB were just milling about the trees near to team PRWN. Their task of collecting jars of sap had long since been completed , so now all the girls plus Ren were laying around and talking about nothing in particular.

But RYSB was on edge, Ruby in particular. The message that Solus had sent said that Solus would meet them here in the forest, he didn't explain the extent of his injuries, and Ruby was frankly freaking out a little bit. Every small noise from the woods around them Ruby half expected Solus to stagger out of the bushes half dead and bleeding. She wasn't angry that he had left in the first place, more concerned than anything else. She considered him a friend, and the little reaper felt like she was being a bad friend because Solus obviously hadn't felt comfortable enough to share his issues about Penny.

"Ruby" a voice interrupted her thoughts

The red themed girl turned to look at who had spoken to her, to her slight surprise it was Weiss. While Ruby herself had nothing against Weiss, she was rather cautious of the girl because Solus showed such hatred and distrust. So Ruby replied with as much grace and intelligence as she did with most things "huh?"

Weiss fidgeted uncomfortably then said "can I talk to you… alone for a second Ruby?"

Ruby wasn't really sure where this was going, but was willing to humour the pale girl "um… yeah lets just, uh, go over there and talk" the area wasn't too far away from the rest of their teams, just out of ear shot.

Weiss nodded and led Ruby to the slightly secluded area, Ruby made sure that the others could still see them in case something happened, or Solus came back. "So Ruby…" Weiss began "to start with I'd like to apologise for my treatment of your partner, it was… wrong of me to be so uncivil towards him."

Ruby blinked in surprise, she hadn't expected something like this at all. Weiss didn't seem like the type to admit her mistakes or try to make up for them. "Well Weiss, im, um, sure that Solus is sorry for some of the harsh things he said about you and your family?" that would be slightly more believable if is didn't sound like a question.

Weiss only nodded, accepting Rubys answer even though she knew that probably wasn't the case. "Ruby i… have one more question to ask you if that's okay."

"Uhhh… sure…?" the younger girl said questioningly

Weiss looked _really_ uncomfortable now, her ice blue eyes never leaving the forest floor and she was fidgeting slightly "i- you-" she tried "what's it like to have an older sister?" she finally blurted out.

Whatever Ruby was going to say was cut off when something crashed into the ground between the girls, splashing forest sap over both of them. Weiss immedently started getting angry and looking around for who threw it so she could attempt to skewer whomever had done it.

But only moments later two sharp cracks of a high powered rifle were heard, both girls stopped and wondered what could have made such a noise. Ruby herself was stumped, those shots were louder than her Crescent Rose bar far, meaning they must have been a ridiculously high calibre round.

Her frustrated musings were cut off when a terrible fear inspiring roar boomed out over the small clearing, all the young hunters whirled around to see what had made such a mighty and scary noise.

Three _huge_ ursa alphas towered over the Schnee and the Rose girl, the beasts were massive, standing at a towering 20 feet tall each and covered in razor sharp bone spikes.

And they were right behind Ruby and Weiss.

Both girls let out a less than dignified shriek of fright and slight fear at the monsters. Weiss tried to turn around and make a strategic retreat to the others, but both she and Ruby were blind sided by a massive paw crashing into their sides, throwing both girls to the ground.

Distantly the girls noted the screams of their respective teams, but they were too dazed to really acknowledge the information. But full awareness came crashing back in when one of the monstrously sized ursa lunged in and attempted to snap at them with its powerful jaws.

In an instant both Ruby and Weiss rolled out of the way, avoiding what would have been a killing blow. But the moment was fleeting, as their, and the ursa's attention was drawn towards something else.

Namely the sword the just lodged its way into the middle ursa's left eye.

Both Ruby and Weiss gaped in surprise; Solus was hanging from the Face of the wounded ursa and was twisting his sword for even more damage.

Weiss was just surprised to see him; he had been missing for over a week.

Ruby on the other hand was ecstatic, Solus was here, alive. He looked pale, strained, and had thick bruise's on his neck and face, but he was alive. With new found vigour Ruby charged the middle ursa, intent on protecting her partner.

 **A/N**

 **Oh dear Solus, what have you done? What happened to Winter?**

 **So yeah, Solus is back with the others. I hope I showed him in a more introspective light this chapter, because at this point he knows that things are coming to a head, even if he doesn't know how or when.**

 **I tried to show of his protective side a little more as well, he still feels like he has a debt to Summer so with her being dead all his guilt and remorse over her death is focussed on Ruby. Namely his ensuring her survival, regardless of personal consequence.**

 **And we got a bit of redemption for Weiss, Regardless of how much I dislike her im not going to ignore that she is trying to better herself. There will be more of her later, but she and the others in PRWN will still be more background characters until arc 3. sorry but that's just how the plot goes.**

 **So lets move onto the reviews…**

 **eugenio4079:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Yeah I do read 'professor arc' and it puts my work to shame. But something that's always struck me was that in volume 2 when Ruby lost her weapon and was captured by the white fang, she was utterly useless in a fight until she got her scythe back. A nameless goon beat her, and from that I realised that she and the others (with the exception of Ren and Yang for obvious reasons) cant really fight without their weapons.**

 **But fear not…. This will be remedied.**

 **Triviest:**

"And from the future an older ruby will come, she holds the salvation for Jaune."

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Yes, she will come, and in her wake only Cinders will remain. Your thoughts?  
Port always struck me as the kind of man that had two sides, the side most of everyone sees and the side he has when he's angry/frustrated. But remember, everyone has their role to play, Port included.**

 **Nik41:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Yeah, i had that planned out from the beginning, Port may have been harsh but he wasn't wrong. But Solus is protecting Ruby, he just hasn't realised the best way to do it.  
Doubts you say? Do tell.**

 **Blaiseingfire:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Character depth is always nice isn't it? There will be more for other teachers, namely Ozpin.**

 **The American Wolf:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Yeah, im afraid to say that Kira bit the bullet years ago. Way before the beginning of chapter 1. But her Story doesn't end in her death, no she still has a role to play, Ruby will need all the help she can get after all. a wilted Rose will come, and not even Cinders will remain.**

 **MrHoneyXBadger:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
I suspect they will have other things on their minds at the time haha. When the world burns they will get their savoir.**

**Green Gustavo:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Yeah the 'copies' had been one of the first ideas for the story, Summer is alive, but not really. And when Ruby and Yang find out... well... you'll see.  
I always thought Port to be the elder man frustrated with the modern generation type of teacher. And to be fair, he isn't wrong. He was just giving them a… gentle… nudge in the right direction.**

 **JRMM-Martin:**

 **Thanks for reviewing... twice i suppose haha.  
Yeah, i gave you all the 2nd part of the 3 part story that is the 'death' of Summer rose. The next part will come out some time in the third arc.  
I always pictured Port being joking around kind of person, but with a very serious and deadly undercurrent. I hope that was what i showed him to be.  
Sorry, but no. Until now I'd never even heard of XIII.**

 **Solus knows his past now, and its killing him.**

 **Warhawk'42:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Yeah, i got the inspiration for the Director from RvB. Although that was mostly an initial kind of thing, over time i developed them into two separate characters. **

**Neutral:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **What's more tragic? The fact that it happened or that he didn't see what was wrong with it?**

" **sort of" isn't quite the right way to describe the guilt Solus feels, more like 'crushing' or 'soul destroying'**

 **Fanfic shuffling:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
1\. Eh... i would tell you, but i really don't want to spoil the full horror of that mental block.  
2\. Would you? How do you even say that to someone, "hey i basically damned your mother to a hellish existence forever, just thought id let you know." yeah, wouldn't go down well.  
3\. it will change things, and it will prompt Ruby into action, you'll see.  
4\. Yes. And it will be badass.**

* * *

 **Anyway, don't forget to leave a review!**


	25. Once More

Edge of Life.

Chapter Twenty four

Once More

 _Kira gripped Mortems left arm tightly as the blond haired boy screamed in obvious agony, she herself in a wheel chair and face covered in dark bruises. But they had nothing on her only friend, he was an absolute mess. Argentums deep sapphire blue eyes were freely leaking both tears and blood, and a deep cut above his slightly singed hair was oozing blood and matting his golden hair._

 _Mortem wailed in horrid pain once again, Kira gently rubbed his left arm in the hopes of calming him "shhh… its okay 13" she said soothingly "its okay… the pain will pass, im right here."_

 _Mortem, or 13 as it were, was currently laying on a clean silver operating table without his customary minotaur armour. He was completely nude and had numerous scars across his pale, yet well defined and toned chest. The largest of which being a long gash that ran from his left hip to his right shoulder._

 _But Mortems currant state of nudity didn't matter to the young man in the slightest, his mind was consumed by the pure agony that spread like fire across the right side of his body. A tall thin skeletal machine stood over him and worked diligently over his most grievous injury to date: having his arm ripped off._

 _The severed limb was about to be reattached, but the auto doc couldn't do that quite yet. First it had to remove any foreign materials such as sand or dirt that may have gotten into the wound, then it had to tear away the destroyed muscle and ruined bone. And most painful of all the auto doc then had to fuse what remained of the bone to a sturdy metal rod which would act as the replacement bone._

 _And only_ then _could the arm be reattached._

 _The un-armoured Mortem screamed in pain again as the medical robot pulled out the torn muscles, the pain was unreal, Mortem would gladly take being riddled with bullets over this. Instantly Kira was at his side whispering soothing words "I know it hurts" she cooed "its okay im right here, just squeeze my hand"_

 _And Solus did so with all his might._

 _Even if he were fully aware and in control he wouldn't be able to hurt her at all just by squeezing her hand. Even if he were wearing his armour Mortem would be hard pressed to compete with Kira in terms of raw strength, she had gotten the full upgrade years ago, and just like the director had promised her already great power had increased to absurd levels._

 _It was a testament to the creators of android 15 that they had managed to build something powerful enough to injure the overpowered girl._

 _But none of that mattered, all the boy could feel was the blinding pain of ruined bone fragments being plucked from the bloody stump of his right arm. As he screamed the edge of his perception felt the soft soothing touch of Kira, her kind words slowly quelled the painful screams that echoed through the facility. His love for her had never been greater as she slowly whispered quiet comforts into his maimed body, he felt as her aura washed over him in a comforting embrace._

 _After what felt like years but was little more than a few moments, Mortem felt the machine re-attach the arm. It was agony, but he didn't scream, not this time. The soothing words of Kira had calmed Mortem enough for clear thought to take over again. And with such clarity of mind Mortems thoughts turned towards the being that had caused him such injuries – Android 15, whatever the hell Atlas had been thinking when they had created a machine of such power he would never know, and frankly he was inclined to kill the scientists responsible._

 _When he was whole again that is._

 _Agony rippled through his body once more, but with a clearer mind Mortem was able to apply the first element of the directors training – pain is an illusion. Mortem was aware of the pain, aware of the feeling it should cause, but he detached himself enough that only his awareness of it existed and not the actual feeling._

 _Even through his seething hatred of the director Mortem could find it in himself to respect the man, his intelligence was just as much a weapon as his subjects had been._

 _Suddenly the flickering hologram of Summer appeared next to Kira, she held the emotionless face that all the copies did, but Mortem knew that she only came to him out of concern. "worried question: oh 13, why do you continue to do this to yourself?"_

 _Kira, whom had never really gotten on with Summer as well as Mortem had, battered her free hand at the pale imitation and said "begone Summer this is a time for the living, not the dead." Then she went back to quietly comforting Mortem._

" _Sorrowful statement: I never wanted this for you, I never wanted any of this for you." If Summer was hurt or offended by Kira's words then she didn't show it. Not that she could anyway._

 _Mortems thoughts turned to his utter failure with Summer, but unlike a few years ago when the guilt was fresh Mortem was able to dismiss the lingering negative emotions with practiced ease. "Kira" Mortem croaked before Kira could get a word in edge wise. "Summer" a harsh cough racked his muscular frame "please don't"_

 _He could hardly tolerate their arguments when he was at is best, as it was now Mortem felt like he was dying, so this was not what he needed._

 _Both females hushed upon hearing Mortem make a sound that wasn't a scream, Kira nodded her head and acknowledged that Mortem probably didn't need to hear this right now. Summer did the same, with holographic form shimmering slightly as she did so._

 _The argument between the two had been going on for years now, Mortem was fully aware that both ladies only wanted what they thought was best for him. Kira wanted him to get the full upgrade like her, something both he and her realised that would make him nigh unstoppable in his armour. Summer wanted him to refrain from anything the director had wanted to do, going so far as to say that he should cease doing bounties and move into one of the kingdoms and try for a normal life._

 _Mortem hated the director with a burning passion, the man had stolen his freedom, which was something Mortem would never forget. So anything related to the directors wishes left a bitter taste in his mouth, so getting the upgrade was out for him, despite how powerful he knew he could become._

 _But what Summer suggested… it was too much. A normal life was something Mortem could never do, he could feel the call for blood and violence in his bones. He relished in the conflict, the pain he caused, the pure_ _ **chaos**_ _he created. Violence was a part of who Mortem was, it came as easy to him a breathing, there was nothing more exhilarating than the hunt, the adrenaline, the pure lust both he and Kira felt after such violence._

 _It was just… beautiful._

It was an ugly thing Ruby decided. The way Solus fought, his moves weren't graceful, everything was intended to end the fight as fast as he could. Ruby noticed this as Solus viciously stabbed at the ursa's face, there wasn't a moment's hesitation, he just did it. All this was observed as she was charging said ursa in the hopes of aiding her obviously wounded partner. With a battle cry her scythe gouged at deep cut into the leg of the massive beast, it roared and howled in pain, its paws also swatted at its face in an attempt to remove Solus.

The Merc, seeing he was about to be mauled jumped from the beast and onto the ground near Ruby, when he hit the ground a pained grimace covered his features, but it was quickly covered by a determined expression.

Rubys already high levels of worry about Solus rose upon seeing his maimed face up close, the younger girl was hard pressed to find _anywhere_ on her partners face that wasn't swollen or bruised. Just what had happened to him to put him in this kind of state? And how bad was it if he still looked like this over a week later?

"Dodge!" Solus suddenly yelled, Ruby had been too preoccupied with her thoughts to notice the angry and now injured ursa swipe at both young hunters, Solus evidently had been paying attention.

Ruby jumped backwards, moving clearly out of range of the attack and fully expecting Solus to do the same. But he didn't, he tried too. Something was wrong, he was moving far slower than normal, Solus couldn't clear the attack quickly enough and was battered to the side with bone crushing force. The whole ordeal sending him tumbling to the ground in front of one of the other ursa's.

The other ursa stood before the fallen Solus and roared in challenge as it swiped downwards and attempted to crush the merc. Despite the obvious pain Solus was in he was able to roll onto his back and hold his sword up, making the ursa impale its own paw on the blade.

Ruby tried to help, but she had her own problems to deal with, namely the other two ursa that had their sights locked firmly onto her. The uninjured one took a lumbering step towards the crimson clad girl, ready to inflict suffering onto its human prey.

But it never got the chance.

Before Ruby had done anything, before she had even moved, a thunderous explosion engulfed the back of the single healthy ursa, the beast staggered forward and almost collapsed. But before it could right itself a scream of utter rage cried out over the clearing, followed immedently by a flaming Yang crashing into the back of the beast and peppering it with both fire and bullets.

Blake quickly made herself known too, by throwing her weapon into the ground next to the still pinned Solus with the blackened blade digging into the ground next to the merc. Solus saw the opportunity to escape his currant predicament and quickly grasped onto the black cord that connected the blade and gave a slight tug signalling Blake to pull him out of danger of being crushed.

It almost worked, Blake, being ever the pessimist had expected Solus to weigh quite a bit, despite the fact that the merc was as thin as a whip. But even expecting a struggle the raven haired girl was literally staggered at the mans weight, he barely cleared the massive ursa's fist, and she almost face planted at the staggering amount of strength it took her to move the heavy male.

She tried to rectify her mistake by providing the merc with covering fire so he could move away from the pissed off beast. But obviously something was wrong, because despite his best efforts to scramble away he was still very slow, and the ursa promptly kicked him across the small clearing and through a few trees.

With her sharp cat like eyes Blake could see Solus spit out a large wad of saliva and blood, but otherwise he seemed fine, so she focussed her efforts on the beast before her.

Surprisingly in the brief time all that had taken Ruby and her sister were able to kill 'their' ursa and with the aid of team PRWN were engaging the first bear like grimm that Solus had stabbed and began attacking it. Blake quickly got Rubys attention and gestured to the downed Solus, a look of panic covered the young girls face as she used her semblance to speed out of the fight and towards her downed partner. Briefly sending Blake a thankful smile as the elder girl took her place.

"Solus are you okay?!" Ruby all but screamed at the fallen mercenary.

Solus, whom had dragged himself against a sturdy looking tree gave a slightly wet sounding cough then spat out some more blood and said "yeah, fan-fucking-tastic Ruby, never better."

Ruby had the humility to realise that it was a stupid question to ask, but had other, more pressing matters to attend too. Such as the massive grimm that both teams were trying to kill.

"Okay, you just stay here, if you can try and snipe the ursa" Ruby said ignoring that Solus looked ready to pass out.

Solus drunkenly brought his sniper rifle out from his belt and took aim, Ruby really didn't want to leave him, but she knew that despite the fact that he was injured he could take care of himself and she was needed with the others.

* * *

The battle was won, thanks to the slightly questionable aim of Solus and the lucky timing of Professor Goodwitch. The elder hunter had not been pleased with Solus and his sudden departure, but for whatever reason had decided against commenting.

Both the other teams had quickly converged on Solus after the death of the last ursa, smothering him in questions about his health and where the hell he had been and why he left. Solus had surprisingly been almost… polite. Well not quite polite, he had promptly told PRWN to fuck off and mind their own business, but to his team he had been… more laid back.

Currently he was limping towards the bullhead that would take them to Beacon with the aid of his sword. Ruby constantly tried to help him, but he 'firmly' told her not too. That he didn't want help, or pity.

"want a hand onto the bullhead?" Yang asked when they had finally gotten to the airship.

Solus looked sour for a moment and although he hated it, nodded in acceptance. The strong blonde girl pulled him up onto the airship with a muttered "damn you're heavy"

Once all the members of team RSYB had settled into their seats and the aircraft had gotten moving, Ruby finally decided to ask about the proverbial elephant in the room.

"So Solus… what… err, happened?" she asked ever so tactfully.

She and the other girls had a suspicion of course; his injuries were just too coincidentally timed with the arrival of Mortem and the highway battle that took place. So there _must_ be some connection.

Solus took a deep breath and closed his eye, slowly, tiredly, he said "I fought a battle I couldn't win."

The three girls shared a look, that statement pretty much confirmed what they suspected, Solus must have fought with Mortem before the silver behemoth had been pushed into a retreat. It was a wonder he was still alive, even injured as Solus was, that's still a testament to his skills if he was able to battle the Slayer of Independence and survive. It was a feat that not many others could boast about, Mortem was a feared man, both for his power and his ability to create utter chaos even in the most orderly of situations.

"Ruby" the merc said suddenly, his eye alight with purpose "I have a gift for you" he slowly brought a plain cloth wrapped item off his back, holding it out to Ruby, with an almost Pleading look.

 _I will not fail Summer, not again._

 **A/N**

 **Which begs the question, how exactly did he fail Summer in the first place? I wont tell you, not yet anyway, but its gonna be big. Something most of you have probably realised by now is that Solus knows quite a few game changing secrets, and… well… you'll see.**

 **This chapter may have felt a bit rushed, because it kinda was on my part, I tried to cut out the unimportant bits such as the fight, but it still feels… poorly paced. Regardless, next chapter the teams will probably be back at Beacon, and the simulation for Blake is ready, so that will be a laugh to write.**

 **So this chapter I showed the slightly more tender side of Kira, I tried to show that despite some of the things she may say to Mortem, she does care for him. Its not quite the mushy teen love most writers go for, its… almost a level of dependency between two horribly damaged young people.**

 **Speaking of pairings, a friend of mine whom I have been having a delightful PM conversation has been asking after what the main pairing of this story is. Yes, you read that correctly, there will be a Solus x ? pairing down the road. The only hint im giving is this: the 'lucky' girl in question has been in, or mentioned, in every chapter except chapter 2. beyond that I wont tell you, work it out yourselves.**

 **Onto the reviews…**

 **Lord Corvo Attano:**

 **Thanks for reviewing**

 **Haha yes im aware that im rather vague most of the time, I always find it amusing to watch other people come to their own conclusions. I dislike stories that give all the answers in the first few chapters and the 'heroes' succeed in everything they do. Everything in this is a puzzle, wrapped in an enigma, cloaked in mystery haha.**

 **MrHoneyXBadger:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
He is rather good at making an entrance isn't he? Even if he is fairly suck-y afterwards.**

 **eugenio4079:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Just... no. No offence, but that is just... no. Im leaning towards a realistic kind of story, meaning that there is no God and Jaune isn't special compared to anyone else, just another random person trying to survive.**

 **Fanfic shuffling:  
** **Thanks for reviewing.  
Nope. Its still just because he feels he owes Summer, he cares little for the others. At this point Solus still would hardly care if Yang or Blake died, he'd be upset if Ruby died or was injured but that's only due to his debt to Summer, not because of Ruby herself.  
As for Weiss, well, you'll see soon enough...**

 **Nik41:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **CDRL will get what they deserve in the end, just wait.**

 **And indeed, Solus will have a bad time, but what do you think Blake could put together? Its not like she knows that Mortem was injured.**

 **Blaiseingfire:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
She and the others deserved it. Winters death is simply an attempt to right a wrong, but two wrongs don't make a right. Yes i realise that's quite... direct. But im serious when i say that Jaune was in the right when he killed them, what the Schnee's did was beyond any crime Jaune ever committed.**

 **The American Wolf:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
I admit i was in a bit of a rush this week; i did the best i could though. Yeah, don't worry it will be touched on soon. Solus is good at what he does, but he's not perfect, he will be caught out at some point.**

 **Neutral40:**

 **thanks for reviewing.  
Yes, but not without good reason. He did what he thought was justice.**

 **Jaune age 1 to 8: with parents at Dorme. fly's into rage and kills Grimm, nearly dying in the process. Has two eyes.**  
 **GAP**  
 **Age 10: Known as subject 13, meets Summer. Has two eyes**  
 **Age 10: Summers death, her mind is copied into the system along side every other subject.**  
 **Age 10: 13 delivers Summers cloak to young Ruby.**  
 **Age? subjects 13 and 8 conduct a political assassination in Mistral. Has two eyes.**  
 **Age? injured child raids military complex. Has two eyes**  
 **GAP**  
 **Age 13: Known as Argentum Mortem. Battle of fort Independence. Looses left little finger. Has two eyes.**  
 **Age?: televised death of councilman Anderson at the hands of the Red Lady.**  
 **Age 14: Fights android 15, arm torn off, nearly dies. has two eyes**  
 **Age? impaled by Schnee.**  
 **Age 15: wanders newly formed glass deserts looking for something. Has one eye.**  
 **Age? meets and defeats Penny in Vacuo.**  
 **Age? meets and saves Sun in Vacuo**  
 **Gap**  
 **Age 16: Known as Solus Superstes. Returns to the kingdoms. Has one eye**  
 **Age 17: presumably kills Roman, recruited by Ozpin for Beacon.**

 **I hope that clears things up. If you have any more questions feel free to ask.**

* * *

 **Don't forget to leave a review!**


	26. Through the Ashes of Empires

Edge of Life

Chapter Twenty Five

Through the Ashes of Empires

The atmosphere was tense in the bullhead containing only team RSYB, like there was an undercurrent of nervous energy that exuded both fragile hope and crippling fear.

And all of it was coming from Solus.

The battered looking merc held his arm out to Ruby, a cloth covered object held firmly in his grasp, his eye was looked almost pleading as he stared at Ruby, almost as if begging the younger girl to take it from him. Ruby eyed the package warily, unsure what it contained, but took it anyway. Slowly, ever so slowly she unwrapped it, peeling away the plain looking cloth that covered the item within.

Silver and lilac eyes widened to the extreme in a mixture of shocked sadness and fury once they saw the blade. It was a gleaming, if slightly dusty silver sword with a thick red rim and a trigger on the handle. The sisters recognized the old weapon, Ruby looked ready to cry in sadness, but Yang looked furious, and all her anger was directed at Solus.

In an instant Yang was upon Solus, grabbing him harshly by the collar of his jacket and banging him into the wall of the aircraft, fury strewn across her features "where did you get this!" she roared in his face

Solus had not taken his eye off Ruby, even as Yang battered him into the wall he only muttered "off a skeleton Yang"

Ruby cried more, Yang got even angrier. "Where!? Why?!"

Solus refused to answer the girls questions, instead he continued looking at Ruby and said "she wanted you to have it, just like she wanted you to have that cloak you're wearing."

Yang dropped Solus and staggered back in shock, looking like she'd been hit by a freight train. "Wha… that was… you?"

Solus moved over to Ruby as best he could and said "im sorry, but I couldn't save her." he looked depressed for a fleeting moment, but it was soon overcome with determination "but I owe Summer a debt, one I fully intend on fulfilling."

Yang appeared to have gone numb from the shock of it all, Blake was watching the proceedings with raised eyebrows having no clue what was happening. Ruby finally looked up at locked eyes with Solus "Solus…. Please… just tell me… did you kill her?"

Solus looked horrified at the thought, and quickly said "no! I… I tried to save her! But… I was too weak, I failed. Im Sorry."

Rubys silent crying slowly stopped as she came to terms with the weapon in her hands, the blade was old, stained and blunted. But it was Summers, it was now the second thing Ruby had of her mothers. And she would look after it as if it were gold.

Yang finally regained her composure enough to say "so… that was you that brought mums cloak to us on Christmas?"

Solus managed to tear his eyes away from Ruby and gave a jerky nod to Yang before saying "she asked me too… before she-"

"Don't!" Yang cried "I don't want to know how."

Quietly Ruby muttered a broken "thank you" to the merc before returning to silence.

A few moments silence reigned over the cabin of the aircraft, before it was broken by Blake who said "so… what the hell was that?"

* * *

A week had passed since the return of Solus; most of that time had been spent with the merc looking depressed and smoking more than normal. Ruby had regained her cheerful demeanour within 2 days of the 'gift' Solus had given her, and now she seemed to spend most of her time either hovering around Solus like he was a child or restoring her mothers' old sword. Yang had said barely anything to Solus but she did give him his space. Blake on the other hand had been roped into helping the merc with setting things up for the 'simulator' as he called it.

The day following the bounty hunters return he had gone to see headmaster Ozpin about gaining permission to convert an old classroom into the simulation room. After many, many assurances that the chances of a student dying were very slim Solus had gained permission to use the previously abandoned room. But only if Ozpin himself was there to supervise the first test.

This brings us to the present.

Solus was sitting in a slightly worn looking grey office chair, before him were multiple small computers that were connected to a mish mash of coloured cables and wires. Ozpin and the girls stood behind the bounty hunter, the headmaster was looking intently at the monitors and reading the small read outs. Ruby looked excited that something was finally happening, despite Solus tiredly muttering for her to stand still the girl couldn't contain her enthusiasm. Yang was just twiddling her thumbs waiting for something to happen.

Blake was the most interesting of all; she had a look of utter determination on her face. Solus had explained how things would work _very_ carefully, in part to cover his own arse from Ozpin if something went wrong, and due to the fact that he said he would find the whole experience terribly amusing so he wanted to draw it out.

"Okay, does everyone understand how this is going to work?" he asked one final time, hoping he wouldn't have to explain everything again.

Ruby quickly raised her hand into the air, looking all the world as if she were a student and Solus the teacher. With a heavy sigh the merc looked at her and asked "what Ruby?"

The girl had the decency to look slightly embarrassed "can you please explain it all again Solus?"

The unknown cripple let out an aggravated sigh but complied anyway "listen this time. The room before you has been converted to a crude holographic battle chamber, meaning that it is fully capable of simulating different opponents of varying levels of power."

"But I though holograms couldn't be used like that?" Ruby asked confused.

"not holograms as you know them, normally a hologram in completely intangible and therefore unable to simulate combat" the merc explained "but I was in possession of a way around this problem, namely in the form of a chemical compound known as X43-PCH or the H drug for short."

The merc looked around at the intent expressions of interest around him. "In reality you will be fine since the holograms are still totally intangible. But the drug will alter your perception of what is real and what isn't." Ruby looked a little confused but he continued anyway "the drug makes your body feel everything as if it were really happening, so if you break your arm in a simulated fight you will feel the pain, you will see the bone sticking out, you will believe your actually there. But in reality you'll be fine."

Yang refused to look the Solus in the eye, but still asked "what happens if you die in the simulation?"

"You pass out. Your heart and brain struggle to cope with the stress so you just black out." The merc turned to look intently at Blake "but if you die twice in the simulator within 24 hours it is VERY likely that you'll have a heart attack due to the shock on your body."

Ozpin decided now was a good time to speak up "that is why I decided it would be best if the machine was only used once a day per person. And either myself or Mr Superstes here must be present to ensure nothing go's wrong. Failure to comply with these rules will be met with the destruction of this device and the expulsion of the offending student. Am I clear?"

The three girls nodded, Blake looked slightly sour at the rules but still knew it was for the best.

"Okay Blake here wants to fight Argentum Mortem; a random environment will be generated for the fight." Solus drew a small white circular patch from the table "turn around and move your hair so I can put this on the back of your neck and we can begin."

Unsure what the device was Blake looked at it for a moment but eventually decided it must contain the drug, so she moved her hair and turned around, awaiting the small prick of pain that no doubt awaited.

Solus placed the device on the back of her neck with sharp clinical motions. For a moment Blake felt nothing, but then a sharp prick of pain speared through the back of her neck. In an instant everything felt out of focus for the girl, her head ached terribly as she felt new sensory data crash through her mind, it was like she was feeling everything all at once but twice.

Solus removed the device and turned to the computer to start the system up "Ruby, move Blake into the middle of the room then come back"

The red clad girl looked worriedly at Blake but nodded and complied all the same.

Reality as she knew it crashed back into proper focus for Blake, the air felt very moist and she was standing on some kind of metal walkway above what looked to be a water processing area. There was a gushing flow of water that ran beneath the bridge she stood on and a few concrete support beams scattered around the room.

The sound of metal clanging behind her forced her to spin around to see what was there; all the dark themed girl saw was a slight flutter of Rubys cloak before she disappeared behind a closed metal door.

The sound of heavy foot steps drew her attention to the other side of the small walkway; Blake turned and saw the beast of her nightmares before her, Argentum Mortem. He was a towering hulk of Minotaur shaped armour, glowing red eyes and blackened smile adorning the helmet. He looked just as evil as she remembered him.

And she would never forget that, not after what he did, not after he had destroyed her one hope for equality, not after he destroyed the White fang and killed Adam.

She would never forget. Never.

 _The White fang were camped out in the dense jungle known as the jade jungle just outside the borders of Mistral, all that remained of their cause was here. After their staggering loss at the battle of fort independence nearly three years ago the White Fang were a dying group. The kingdoms had all but ruined them in the public eye and the vast military power of Atlas had hunted them across the globe._

 _Not to mention the terror known as Argentum Mortem._

 _Blake and the others were very aware just how lucky they had been to survive him the first time, let alone injure him. But after the fall of Independence he had developed something of a grudge towards the White Fang, and to make matters even worse whenever he attacked a White fang target he was always accompanied by the fearsome Red Lady._

 _And if Mortem was bad, she was the devil made flesh._

 _Currently Blake was quietly eating some rations with her partner Adam, the currant leader of the White Fang and her only friend. The ginger man didn't talk much, but he did have a soft spot for Blake ever since he saved her from Mortem back in fort Independence. He had shown her how to fight, taught her the necessary skills to survive the harsh life that was being a terrorist. She would always be grateful to Adam for helping her._

" _My, my… what have we here?" a melodic voice suddenly pierced through the clearing the 50 or so faunas were in "could it be…? Ah! It is! The illusive remnants of the White Fang!"_

 _A terrible chill ran down Blakes back, she knew that voice, it belonged to the single most terrifying person she had ever seen. It was the Red Lady._

 _Near terror stricken both Blake and the thankfully more composed Adam turned around to the source of the voice._

 _And there, standing at the edge of the clearing was the priest imposter known as the Red Lady, beside her stood the towering form of Argentum Mortem with his gleaming silver armour._

 _Blake could only gape in open mouthed horror, they were doomed, the White Fang was over, and she was sure to die._

 _Mortem slowly turned his head to inspect the assembled rebel faunas, Blake and the others could only wonder what kind of beast was beneath the shining silver armour. "Well… I do think good Mr Schnee will be pleased don't you my lady?" he said with a voice thick with arrogance._

 _The Red Lady nodded her head and said "I agree Argentum… Shirou Schnee will be quite pleased, isn't that Adam Taurus over there? He did say he wanted his head…"_

 _Blake blanched at the casual way the two were discussing the murder of her best friend, it was sick, it was cruel, and it was evil._

 _With a sudden battle cry Adam leapt at the more powerful of the two killers with his Sword poised to split the monster apart right down the middle._

 _Too bad he attacked the Red Lady._

 _With frightening ease the psychopathic woman caught the sword in mid air, Adam strained and pushed on the razor sharp blade with all his might, but it was all for naught because the Red Lady just stood there with her left hand causally holding the sword._

" _My, my… how rude." The killer drawled "you wouldn't hit a Lady would you?"_

 _Adam didn't reply, he was giving slight grunts of exertion as he tried to free his weapon. The strength that the lithe woman was showing was unreal, Adam towered over her in height, and yet she seemed to totally outclass him in terms of raw strength._

" _How rude… my dear Mortem if you would?"_

 _Mortem lashed out and punched Adam hard in the face sending him flying backwards and his sword clattering to the ground. "He's mine" Mortem said near lovingly as he stalked of towards Adam._

 _Blake was too caught up in watching in open mouthed horror as Mortem proceeded to beat the tar out of Adam to notice the Red Lady causally move to stand next to her. "It's beautiful isn't it?"_

 _Blake jumped in surprise and fear as she finally noticed the unassuming figure of the Red Lady standing next to her, how had she snuck up to her so quietly? It shouldn't be possible… and why didn't any of the… others… warn her…_

 _In open mouthed horror Blake looked around the clearing, it wasn't possible, it shouldn't have been possible… Blake had of course heard of the Red Lady's semblance, a highly advanced and precise form of telekinesis. But this? This was insane, awe inspiring… and terrifying._

 _With the exception of Mortem, Adam, the Red Lady and herself, everyone in the clearing was suspended in the air clawing at their throats in a futile attempt to remove invisible binds that were choking them to death. It was utterly pointless to struggle; more and more of the rebels slowly stopped moving and succumbed to the immense power of the fearsome Red Lady._

 _Blake could feel the mounting fury at the injustice around her, hatred towards the mercenaries bubbled to the surface, and in and instant she drew Gambol shroud and fired almost point blank into the side of the Red Lady's head._

 _For all the good it did._

 _The woman lazily tilted her head to the side to avoid the shot, almost as if the dodge at been no effort on her part. "Well that's awfully rude wasn't it?"_

 _Still lost in her anger Blake swung her blackened sword diagonally hoping to bisect the fearsome killer. And again it was almost lazily dodged, this time by a slight tilt of the body. "Feisty one aren't you?" the Red Lady said, amused._

 _Blake prepared to attack again, but an ear shattering scream of agony broke her out of her anger. Blake's eyes snapped to the source and to her utter dismay she saw Adam being violently electrocuted by blue lightning that poured out of Mortems gauntlets. Mortem was cackling in laughter at seeing Adam in such agony, it was obvious to Blake that Mortem was greatly enjoying the torturous lightning he had inflicted onto Adam._

 _Smoke was rising from the battered form of Adam, brief flash's of his skeleton were visible, and blood was pouring out of his eyes, ears, nose and mouth as he wailed in untold pain – much to Mortems apparent amusement._

" _Adam!" Blake cried as she bolted towards Mortem in hopes of somehow stopping him._

 _But the effort was for naught; an invisible force lifted her into the air and locked her into place. Slowly she could feel her back being straightened and cracked into a uncomfortable position. "Ah ah ah, I can't let you interrupt" the Red Lady said as if scolding a child "my dear Mortem has bee looking forward to this for too long."_

 _Blake was unable to speak, all she could do was watch in open mouthed horror as Adam finally stopped screaming, collapsing onto the ground and beg for death. Mortem walked up to the fallen faunas commander, with sickening glee in his voice the behemoth said "I do so enjoy it when they scream…"_

 _Slowly Mortem drew a shining silver sword from a tatty leather covered sheath on his hip, and again ever so slowly he brought it above his head, ready to decapitate Adam._

 _All Blake could muster was a strangled scream before the sword swung downwards, and Adams head rolled on the ground._

 _Finally the invisible force that held her let go and Blake took of in a dead sprint towards the body of her fallen savoir. Her mind was in denial, this couldn't be true, this couldn't be happening…_

 _But the temporary illusion of her grief racked thoughts was shattered when Mortem chuckled and speared her through the gut with his already blood stained blade._

 _With a slick wet sound the mercenary withdrew his sword from her gut. Blake collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut, falling onto the ground beside the body and head of Adam._

 _As blackness slowly overtook her vision Blake could only hear laughter, and the amused words of the Red Lady telling Mortem to let her bleed out, prolong the suffering._

Blake would never forget, and now her chance for vengeance was at hand. Even if it was only a simulation.

"Mortem" she spat in the direction of the hulking sliver behemoth.

To her surprise Mortem actually replied, "lets not stand on ceremony here… miss Belladonna" it was disturbing enough the way the words sounded, but to hear her own name from that monster… it sent a shiver down her spine.

Slowly both combatants moved forwards, the heavy clunking steps of Mortem covering over the quiet steps of Blake.

With and quiet grunt Blake drew her weapons in the blink of an eye, attempting to stab the huge man in two places at once. The hit was utterly ineffective; his massive armour simply deflected the duel attack.

The mercenary didn't even try to block or dodge as Blake went for another attack, this time a swipe at the legs. Just like last time the attack merely glanced off his armour.

The next attack was a swipe at the right side of his neck, this time he caught the Blade with startling ease. With a guttural screech of fury Blake swung the other half of her sword the left side of his neck, and again he caught the Blade with ease. The gleaming red eyes of his helmet bored into Blakes own dark eyes, even lost in her anger as she was Blake couldn't help but feel a little afraid. "Peace has cost you your strength" Mortem declared, still holding the swords despite Blakes thrashing. "you will learn strength again, and suffering will be your teacher!"

The bounty hunter forced her hands back and he punched her in the face hard, just nicking her with her own blade in the process. Blake staggered back from the hard blow, and instinctively let go of her swords.

With a slight chuckle Mortem bent and twisted the weapons in his hands, utterly destroying her only weapons.

Blake was dismayed, but only for a second, howling in fury Blake swung her right hand around in a punch, aura coating her fist so she wouldn't break any bones.

Mortem just let the blow hit him, his head only turned ever so slightly. Blake threw another punch, this time with her other hand, only to achieve the same.

Seeing how futile her attacks were, Blake swung her leg around in a turning kick. Evidently Mortem had grown bored, so he causally blocked the kick with his left arm. With his free hand Mortem back handed the dark themed girl hard, making her hang over the railing dazed.

Just as Blake was bringing her head back up to her opponent all she had time to see was the massive armoured foot of Mortem crash into her face and send her flailing of the catwalk and down the 5 meter drop below.

Blake blacked out for a moment, but came to when the crashing sound of Mortem jumping from the rails boomed throughout the room, temporarily dwarfing the sound of rushing water.

Awareness crashed through her body sharply as Mortem lifted her by the back of her shirt and slammed her whole body into a concrete support pillar.

He then threw her to the ground harshly, she bounced a few times, but rolled to a stop just before a small catwalk that went over the rushing water that flowed through the room.

Despite the agonizing pain the coursed through her battered body Blake tried to rise. She didn't get far, barely onto all fours before Mortem gave a casual kick to her right kidney, sending new and fresh pain exploding through her body. She couldn't stop the scream that bubbled out of her mouth, the pain was extreme.

But the pain didn't end there; with a slight chuckle Mortem kicked her over the small catwalk and onto the other side of the water. A groan of pain permitted through Blake's battered body, but she wasn't done yet, she could still win this she was sure of it.

"You fight like a true hunter, with nothing held back." Mortem said as he walked over the small bridge. "Admirable, but mistaken."

Blake clicked a button on a device from her White Fang days, and instantly all the lights in the room shorted out. This was her last chance, her body was battered and bruised. Slowly she rose and began to creep towards Mortem in hopes of catching him off guard.

"Ohhh… you think darkness in your ally…" he said slowly, completely unfazed by the lights going out. "But you mearly adopted the dark; I was born in it, moulded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man…" slowly his head swivelled around "and by then it was nothing to me but _blinding!"_

As he finished the last word his left hand lashed out and grabbed Blake by the throat, harshly holding her in the air, clawing for breath. With his right hand he pummelled her in the solar plexus, shattering her ribs and throwing her to the ground.

"Shadows betray you, because they belong to _me!"_ sadistically Mortem Punched the downed faunas in the side of the head, cracking her skull.

A slow rasping laugh echoed through the room, as if Mortem was terribly amused by the effort Blake had put into the fight.

Despite the crippling pain Blake started to rise. She was lost to the pain and the fury of seeing the bane of her life laughing at her suffering. Slowly she rose to her feet and took a staggering step forwards towards Mortem, swinging a sloppy right hook towards his face.

The beast was even more amused by this "Ah yes! I was wondering what would break first, your spirit,"

Mortem lazily dodged and kneed her in the gut, making her collapse to the ground again.

With a dark chuckle Mortem lifted the girl of the ground and over his head "or your body!" he yelled as he brought her body down onto his knee.

Blakes spine made a sickening cracking sound as it was snapped in two over the mercs leg, she flopped to the ground boneless and hovering at the edge of consciousness.

The towering form of Mortem stood over her prone form, his startling crimson eyes boring into to her own, almost gently he placed a hand over her chest, then in a action that could be called anything but gentle he plunged his hand through her already shattered ribs and into her chest cavity.

After a few moments of groping he plucked her heart out, holding it before her face.

The last thing Blake Belladonna saw before death claimed her was her own beating heart.

 **A/U**

 **Blake is alive! Please remember that it was just a simulation. She is alive and aside from utterly crushed confidence and hope she is okay.**

 **So that was the long awaited fight between Blake and Argentum Mortem. It went about as well as could be expected, With Blake getting absolutely demolished with little effort on Mortems part. Is it bad that I found it terribly amusing to write?** **Im terrible I know.**

 **So what did you guys think of the flashback? The end of the White Fang, long before the black trailer took place. It also took place** _ **just**_ **before the Vacuo massacre, and I mean days, not months, not weeks,** _ **days**_ **before the entire kingdom went up in flames.**

 **And another interesting thing to note is that Mortem was rather fond of the Schnee family in that blast from the past, even if it was only because of their money. So that should make you wonder what happened. What caused such hatred by the time Mortem became the Wanderer?**

 **I do so enjoy the questions that little things like this should generate in peoples minds.**

 **So lets move onto the reviews…**

 **THE L0NE WANDERER** :  
 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Thanks for the constructive comments; i really like it when people point out ways to improve my writing in a friendly manner.  
The reason character development is slow is because i wanted to show a different side to things, not all is perfect, 'heroes' don't always win, not every problem can be solved. I write Solus very much in the sense that he is (present time anyway...) a True Neutral. He care's very little for the struggles of others and every action he takes its out of his own selfish desires. This will change, eventually. 'Ruby' as she is may not be the one to force him to explain things, but he will be confronted about his past, present, and future. You'll see the pun in that later…**

 **Smithrooks:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
I quite like stories with a in depth background plot, but something that always irked me about most fanfiction's is the instant explanation of the history and plot. This isn't totally a bad thing, but i like a bit of a mystery. I wrote Solus as a broken character with an unknown past and harsh outlook because it was in sharp contrast with Jaune from cannon, and as it is now the plot is going in two different directions. The first obviously being the present time with Solus at Beacon. And the second being his history, but im writing it in a very jumbled order just to create extra confusion.  
Thanks for the complements. I tried to go for a heavy level of realism (for RWBY anyway...) and despite what many authors seem to think the word isn't all sunshine and rainbows. The 'hero' isn't always right, nor should they always succeed. Everything is dependant on perspective; there are no 'good guys' or 'bad guys' it is all down to each characters point of view.  
Winter may have had a hand in the Vacuo massacre, but she wasn't alone. And she wasn't the only Schnee to pay the price for it. **

**I think the better question to ask is: why did the Schnee's do it?**

 **Mysterious man:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Wagner perhaps?**

 **Darkness is a perspective at best, suffering is a reality, pain is a reality. This is what made Mortem what he is. The long and short of it all is this: People change, the past doesn't.**

 **Remember, everyone has a struggle in life, the key is turning that struggle into a weapon.**

 **Blaiseingfire:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Ha, I'll take that as a complement. I hope the shock is a good thing haha.**

 **Nik41:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
You wouldn't be wrong, but Blake wont be the only one meeting Qrow. But it will be rather underwhelming meeting for all.**

 **Guest (green Gustavo):**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Your enthusiasm is much appreciated, I hope this chapter was adequate for that little confrontation about the weapon.**

 **Neutral40:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
You wouldn't be wrong; Mortem had a huge impact on Beacon and Vale. His actions will be felt for quite some time. As for drama, well… I think ive got that covered.**

 **Meh:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **No, not Yang, remember, the 'lucky' girl has been in every chapter except chapter 2.**

 **eugenio4079:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
I know the end was rather abrupt, but i wanted to save all the juicy drama for the next chapter haha.**

 **Fanfic shuffling:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
The current issues with the leg simply stem from the fact that he isn't used to it, so given a few chapters he'll be fine.  
As for how Blake will go against the Mortem simulation, well… you saw.  
I REALLY don't see how this matters to the story at all, but it's safe to say that yes, he and Kira had their... moments together.**

 **The American Wolf:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Rubys reaction is what could be expected of her, i think Yangs reaction is slightly more interesting. I wonder how they will react to the events of the simulator.**

* * *

 **IMPORTANT!**

 **So after some fiddling I just put a poll up on who you think Solus will be paired with, so please go to my profile page and vote on who you think its gonna be.**

 **As always, please leave a review.**


	27. Light and Dark

Edge of Life

Chapter Twenty Six

Light and Dark

 _Roar of both Grimm and howling winds tore through the battered landscape, razor sharp glass whistled through the air at tremendous speeds and shredded anything that was not moving or behind a strong cover.._

 _Luckily he was moving._

 _The wanderer was a blur of speed, zigzagging through the battle field, killing Grimm and avoiding the deadly glass. He was fighting to protect a group of survivors that were huddled into a nearby shelter, he had to save them, he had to protect them._

"Yes" _the childlike voice purred in his mind_ "save them… save all of them… you are an Arc"

 _The wanderer sliced the throat of another Grimm, but he didn't stay to watch the beast fade away, he was one continuations blur of motion despite the pain that clawed at his aching joints from over use._

"This isn't your fight" _the other, darker, voice hissed in his psyche_ "find her, find 8 and leave!"

 _The blur of motion continued despite the conflicting voices. Never stopping, always moving. One of the survivors cried out in terror as one of the beasts got too close, but it was quickly slain by the lonely man as he swiped his ancient sword through the tainted creature's neck._

"they don't deserve your help!" _the raspy synthetic voice all but screeched_ "they are weak! Pathetic! They deserve their fate!"

 _Despite how many Grimm the wanderer killed more kept coming, it was seemingly endless. The survivors he was protecting were terrified, afraid, cripplingly depressed._

 _All things that attract hordes of Grimm._

"What would mother and father think if you left them?" _the child whispered_ "they gave their lives for you, the last of the Arcs… and you would repay them by becoming a monster? You are a failure"

 _There were too many, the Grimm were beginning to overwhelm his stalwart defence, the words of his younger half weren't helping either. With a whimper of both physical and emotional pain the wanderer was smacked to the ground by a mighty beast that stood on too legs and looked slightly wormlike._

 _He tried to rise, he really did, but it was all for naught as the beast and many others began piling on top of the downed man in a deadly dog pile._ "You won't die like this" _his older half seethed_ "you're better than this…survival, no matter the cost… YOU ARE ARGENTUM MORTEM!"

 _The Grimm were viciously tearing at the wanderer in an attempt to claw out his throat and devour him._

"No!" _the child raged_ "your not! YOU ARE JAUNE ARC!"

" _No no no no no" the wanderer cried as he was being mauled by the Grimm "im not…" power began to boil and charge through his body. The massive pile of Grimm atop his relentlessly continued their assault regardless._

" _IM NOT!" the wanderer screamed in agony as his battered body released the pent up energy. The Grimm went flying of in every direction as the conflicted man howled in mental agony "IM NOT HIM! IM JUST A SURVIVOR!"_

 _With fury and pain evident in his body the wanderer threw balls of energy in every direction, eviscerating the Grimm quickly with power that was both terrible and great._

 _In an instant his sense's snapped back to normal, the power he felt moments ago faded away and left him feeling drained and useless. But he had done it, he had saved all those people…_

 _Oh no…_

 _The wanderer fell to his knees in anguish at he looked at the bodies of the fallen 'survivors' not a single one survived. Many had bite marks or claw wounds that told the tale of their demise. The wanderer howled in defeat and failure as he looked at the corpses of those he had failed to protect, the Grimm had obviously killed them while he had been downed._

 _And it was all his fault._

"Failure!" _the child in his mind screeched_ "you failed them! They trusted you and you failed them!"

 _He pounded the ground in rage over his failure, how could he do this? They had relied on him… trusted him! a scream of anguish escaped his mouth at the sight of his utter failure_ "good" _his older half praised with delight in its usually nightmarish voice_ "they were weak, they deserved this. Only finding 8 matters, their deaths are irrelevant."

 _The wanderer watched the bodies for hours, lamenting his utter failure._

* * *

Ruby and Yang stared at the computer screen in open mouthed horror, the fight they had just witnessed was easily one of the most one sided battles they had ever seen. Not to mention the most brutal and downright _evil_.

It was unreal, were they that underpowered compared to the likes of Mortem? The despicable excuse of a man had hardly tried and yet he had utterly dominated Blake to a point where it was just sad. _This_ was the man that trained Solus, both Ruby and Yang couldn't help but feel the overwhelming sense of pity towards the broken merc.

But it did explain a few things, like why Solus was so powerful. He certainly wasn't at the level of Mortem or even close to it, but he was more than capable of defeating any first year, as well as most second years.

A vague idea began to take shape in young Rubys mind, but before it could really get going the holograms faded into nothing and revealed a perfectly okay Blake passed out in the middle of the room.

Ozpin looked at the girls then gestured for them to go collect their fallen teammate, the sisters were quick in leaving, rushing off to tend to Blake.

"quite the remarkable piece of technology wouldn't you say Mr. Superstes?" Ozpin said casually as if discussing the weather.

Solus let out a tired sigh, frankly he didn't want to deal with Ozpins crap right now. His leg was hurting with pain that he knew was just a phantom of reality, and he was tired, so tired. "Yes" he said flatly "remarkable"

The elderly headmaster took a deep sip from his coffee then said "it does make one wonder where you acquired it"

With that remarkably un-subtle demand Solus gave a small snort of amusement "yes, it's quite the mystery"

The headmaster looked sour for a moment but quickly regained his normal blank look before saying "if you do not wish to tell me that's fine, but I will find out eventually… wanderer."

Ozpin calmly strolled out of the room even as Solus gave a violent hiss of displeasure at hearing about a past alias of his.

Solus had disliked the man before, now he hated the foolish headmaster. He would not let this rest, he had made it personal.

* * *

Oobleck moved around the room at dizzying speeds and chugged his coffee at even worse speeds. "Okay class!" he yelled

Said class was mostly full but few people were really listening, Solus was glaring stonily into space, Yang was doodling in her note book, and Blake kept jerking as she tried not to fall asleep. Ruby was apparently the only member of team RSYB that was listening to the speedy professor talk. "Now that we have covered the basic history of both major Remnant wars I think now would be a good time to discuss the final battles of both of them! And compared their similarities!"

A few people perked up slightly at this, the final battles of both wars were the only part that was actually interesting to the bored teens.

"Let's start with the kingdom wars that raged nearly 300 years ago! The final battle was held at Beacon Hill! Or as you would know it, Beacon academy! Right where this prestigious school now stands the Great War ended in the battle of five armies."

Most of the class was now paying attention.

"The armies of all four kingdoms lined up, ready to annihilate one another in what would have been one of the bloodiest conflicts ever! But luckily this was not the case! Can anyone tell me why!?"

A girl in the middle rows of the class put her hand in the air "yes you!" Oobleck pointed at her "tell me why that didn't happen."

"Well the renegade forces arrived, led by Julius Arc. The deserters from each kingdom banded together under his banner to end the war."

Oobleck pounced on that "yes! The renegades were people from each kingdom that wanted peace, not through bloodshed, but by ending the war and ushering in a new age!"

Ruby, who was sitting next to Solus, noticed that his glare intensified and he looked angry and tense. What could be wrong? It was just ancient history…

"the now legendary Julius Arc arrived before the battle could begin" Oobleck said seemingly oblivious to the mercs anger "he captured the leaders of each army and forced them into signing a truce, and on top of that he forced the different leaders to see the errors of their ways, how many lives that they had destroyed in their lust for battle."

Solus huffed from his position, obviously quite displeased over something. Whatever it was pissed him off quite a bit, his facial expression was mixed between a snarl and a pained grimace.

"And so a peace treaty was drafted that held equal land for all the kingdoms and equal amounts of natural defences against the creatures of Grimm, which were far more numerous in those days." Oobleck paused and took a deep slurp of his coffee "Julius Arc was a great man, he forced the kingdoms into peace and to work collectively against the Grimm. He is also attributed to the famous saying 'you either die alone or we work together to combat the darkness. Your choice'."

Ruby smiled softly, the hero Julius Arc was a hero from many story books she had read when she was younger; he was a legendary hero of the people. The legacy of the man had echoed through history greatly, he even had a statue in the courtyard of the school.

"now lets compare the similarities between the battle of five armies and the much more recent battle for Vale, which was the last ditch attempt of the Faunas rebellion almost 80 years ago."

Blake snapped out of her stupor, even when she was greatly fatigued she wanted to learn about the history of her people, even as dark as it was.

"After nearly ten years of both open and gorilla warfare with the rebel faunas state the rebellion came to an end with the battle of Vale which utterly crushed the insurgents."

Ruby noticed the tension begin to leave Solus' shoulders, good he was calming down.

"The wronged faunas knew they had lost the war, they had no hope of defeating the kingdoms after ten years of losses. So they devised a cunning plan to take out one of their enemies with them."

At this point Cardin Winchester interrupted the flurry of words that doctor Oobleck was; the racist boy said "yeah, those dirty animals attacked Vale while our army was out dealing with a distraction!"

Blake visibly bristled at the words, and Oobleck looked quite disappointed "no Mr. Winchester, what the faunas did was a brilliant tactic that was only born of desperation. Might I remind you that us humans came _very_ close to loosing the war, the military of the faunas was the best in the world, with superior training, equipment and skill. We only won because the kingdoms outnumbered them 15 to 1, and even then for every faunas soldier that died, so did 10 of ours."

Cardin didn't reply beyond a grunt and a muttered "filthy animals" comment.

Seeing that the racist student had been pacified Oobleck continued with what he was saying before "after their defeat had been all but assured the faunas led the tattered army of Vale into a trap with a horde of Grimm, in the process sacrificing many of their remaining able bodied troops."

"with what remained of their forces the faunas led a brutal attack on the city of Vale, many hundreds were killed. But the reserve unit of forces that had been left in the city where able to eliminate the attackers when the protectors of Mountain Glenn abandoned their post to save the city."

Ruby noticed the tension had all but left Solus now, he didn't look calm, he never really did. But he looked less… agitated.

"the reserve troopers of Vale were led by general Violet Arc"

Ruby had merely blinked and Solus looked ready to kill again, the murderous intent seethed from his posture and the intense expression on his face.

"General Violet Arc led a commendable defence that saved many lives, but she and her forces were ultimately outmatched and outgunned. Right when things looked the bleakest, when all hope had bled from the citizens of Vale, help arrived."

The entire room was engrossed with what the professor was saying, the final battle of the faunas wars was a hugely debated topic, and to hear a well respected historians thoughts on the matter was a golden opportunity.

"the defence force of the now destroyed Mountain Glenn expansion received word of the attack and their second in command LT Commander Ozpin, yes your very own headmaster, led a mutiny against his superiors and led the vast majority of his men to aid Vale."

It was a well known fact that Ozpin was considered both a war hero and a heartless bastard, everyone knew he had done what was necessary, but the cost of his actions was monumental. The repercussions could still be felt, and seen if one were to head out to the ruins of Mountain Glenn.

"Our esteemed headmaster left the despairing people of Mountain Glenn to the Grimm; thousands died a bloody death at the hands of the Grimm. But many more were saved when Ozpin attacked the attacking faunas from behind, effectively crushing the rebellion with the aid of Violet Arc and her forces"

It was dark, it was gritty, and it was sad. But everyone knew it was necessary.

"Sir?" a non-descript boy in the back ask "what ever happened to the Arc family?"

Ruby noticed a pained look flash across Solus' maimed features, Ruby didn't know what to think because the mercs attitude had been so bi polar recently. He would shift between his normal aggressive demeanour and then he would adopt an incredibly defeatist attitude. Ruby hated seeing anyone like that, but to see her own partner like that… well it made her feel like a teammate and a bad friend.

While Ruby was lost in her thoughts Oobleck answered the question "the Arc family was, sadly, lost during the eclipse 9 years ago. The last heirs to the noble and ancient bloodline are long since dead im afraid. And even their legacy is lost to us, the ancient and undoubtedly powerful Arc family blade Crocea Mors was lost as well. The last wielder of the Sword was John Arc, a hunter of admirable skill and power."

The bell signalling the end of class signalled loudly and all the students started collecting their things to leave. Although no one left the room faster than Solus did, the merc seeming bolted from the room.

* * *

It was much later that day that Ruby and Solus were alone in their dorm room, Yang and Blake having left to go eat in the cafeteria while Ruby said she wasn't hungry and Solus' leg aching too much for him to tolerate much company.

Ruby sat on her bed fiddling with her scroll, she wasn't doing anything in particular, her mind was too wrapped up in the words Professor Port had all but slapped them with over a week ago. About how Solus was a real fighter and didn't hesitate like she and the others did, that and how Solus was frankly a machine on the battle field with no hesitation, no mercy.

Solus was sitting on his bed and was quietly puffing on a cigarette and trying to ignore the aching in his prosthetic leg, he knew it was just phantom pain, but it still hurt and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Solus" Ruby asked out of nowhere

The merc just grunted softly to let the younger girl know he was listening.

"I want you to train me!" Ruby blurted out

Solus dropped his cigarette and coughed on the smoke because of the surprise. Ruby wanted him to train her? that was… actually not such a terrible idea. It would mean that he didn't have to constantly look after her in a fight and distract himself with trying to keep an eye on her.

Well… perhaps that was the copious amounts of weed he had been smoking that made him think it was a good idea. Because while Ruby wasn't nearly as irritating as Yang or even Blake she was still a whiny 15 year old girl, and he may end up killing her, debt to Summer be damned. Was she really worth the effort? Solus wasn't a fool, he knew his time was short and he knew that no matter what he did he would always feel like he owed Summer for imposing such a curse on her. But to train Ruby… to train anyone was a hard prospect really, his own training was less than ideal what with the director electrocuting him if he'd done something wrong and pumping sexual stimulants into his pre-teen body if he did something right.

Yeah, that was really fucked up.

But to train Ruby would be a challenge in and of itself; she was good with her scythe but useless without it. That'd have to change, But Solus really wasn't sure how he could teach her to fight properly unless he used Kira's method of teaching… which if he was being totally honest amounted to punching you in the face until you learnt to dodge.

It was a surprisingly effective system, funny too.

Solus suddenly realised that Ruby was talking to him, blabbering about how awesome he was and some stuff that Port had said. Frankly Solus really didn't care, he had made up his mind, Ruby would be trained for better or worse she would receive his training.

"Shut up" Solus said interrupting her "yes I'll train you, when I can" he finished as he rubbed his prosthetic leg, willing the pain away.

His time was running out, but he would do this for Summer. Besides, he did always like roses.

 **A/N**

 **History is important, learn it or you will be doomed to repeat it.**

 **Oh dear Ruby, you have gotten yourself into quite a bit of trouble haven't you? Training from Solus… yikes that's going to be painful.**

 **So not much in the way of actual stuff happened in this chapter, but** _ **finally**_ **the girls have some scope on how dramatically powerful Mortem is, and how weak they are. The whole idea for this chapter was mainly for that purpose, to finally push the girls into action over what Port had said, what with Blake getting regular beat downs and Ruby asking Solus to train her.**

 **Speaking of training, let me take a moment to just get real with everyone. I am a martial artist, im not shy about that and ive been training for over 10 years now. so when I see movies or anime with over the top fights and flashy moves I just cringe, its not that I dislike how other people fight, its just that I don't understand their logic. I'll give an example of what I mean: say your in a fight, you could do a pretty amazing spinning kick and wow anyone watching and generally look like a badass, OR you could just punch them in the face. Most fights are actually just that simple, you CAN do a super amazing kick that shows off how flexible and cool you are, but that is a lot of effort. So basically what im trying to get at is this: even though you can, doesn't mean you should.**

 **That is the logic im going to apply when Solus is teaching Ruby, don't draw the fight out, don't play with your food,** _ **just do it.**_

 **Ok im sorry for the little rant. Let's just move onto the reviews…**

 **Riook:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Quite, Mortem was just playing around, not really trying.**

 **eugenio4079:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **What can I say? I like Batman, but I like Bane more.**

 **Wagner:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **No one is 'evil' not truly anyway. Every villain has some kind of end goal that would justify their actions in their minds. Justice, revenge, heroism, its all the same in the end, its just a matter of perspective. Evan playing the hero is a fools endeavour, what's the point in helping someone? They must learn to help themselves; life is a competition, play to win.**

**thelastcenturion2015:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Who doesn't like Batman? He doesn't need super powers to be badass.**

 **Green Gustavo:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Yeah the gap in power is rather large isn't it? And when she comes… well it will only be larger.**

 **Smithrooks:  
** **Thanks for reviewing.  
A gift from Summer, or perhaps a warning of what Solus could be. **

**Lord Of Greed 90:**

 **Thanks for reviewing**

 **Mostly just for the awesome, but not untrue to Mortems character.**

 **Nik41:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **The possibilities are endless, and I can guarantee that everyone will be taken by surprise when they find out whom it is.**

 **Fanfic shuffling:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
What's a bit of gore between friends anyway...?  
No, Cinder won't have maiden powers like in cannon. The concept and plot for this story came to me back in Volume 1, meaning that while i will attempt to add parts of the later Volumes they will still be different to what i have planned for Cinder. As an extension of this the maidens don't exist, because their existence would basically ruin the plot for the third arc of the story. Although it should be noted that even without maiden powers Cinder in extremely OP.  
Blake was already pretty obsessed with fighting Mortem, now she just has a definitive way to gauge his power, so yes she will be rather obsessed.  
To a degree, but remember Ozpin said "myself or Mr. Superstes must be present..." so it doesn't have to be Solus. And remember, outside of Ruby and her needs Solus really doesn't care about anyone else at Beacon.**

 **Neutral40:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
1\. Yes and reactions will be about as expected.  
2\. Nope, don't know where you got that idea. Kira has black hair, Purple eyes, and telekinesis as a semblance. So she has nothing in common with the Schnee family.  
3\. Um... no, the truth of it all is way more complicated.  
I hope that answers your questions, if you have anymore feel free to ask.**

 **Blaiseingfire:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

" **Dodged a bullet"? More like Dodged a friggin missile, Solus' luck is incredibly bi polar, that was singly the second luckiest thing that will happen to him for the rest of the story.**

 **The American Wolf:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Who doesn't like Batman? Batman is cool.**

* * *

 **Now let's take a look at the currant poll status so far…**

 **1** **st** **Ruby with 7 votes**

 **2** **nd** **Raven with 4 votes (HAHAHA oh the irony)**

 **3** **rd** **Cinder with 4 votes (LOL that's just…)**

 **4** **th** **Kira with 3 votes (not sure how she'd be able to do much considering she's dead.)**

 **5** **th** **Yang with 3 votes**

 **6** **th** **Alcohol with 3 votes (this isn't even a person, why is it so high in the ranking?)**

 **7** **th** **Pyrrha with 2 votes**

 **8** **th** **Blake with 2 votes (he literally murdered everyone she had ever met. Such romance.)**

 **9** **th** **Summer with 2 votes (she's dead guys, come on.)**

 **10** **th** **Goodwitch with 2 votes**

 **11** **th** **Nora with 1 vote (whomever voted for Nora has my everlasting disappointment)**

 **12** **th** **Coco with 1 vote (she hasn't even been mentioned at all in this story…)**

 **So please leave a review and go vote in the poll, im eager to see who you all think the lucky girl is.**


	28. Rebirth in Darkness

Edge of Life

Chapter Twenty Seven

Rebirth in Darkness

Ruby was sitting on her bed; her silver eyes were focussed on the floor below her. She was sitting and listening to Yang, for what little it was worth.

"Ruby you cant!" the blonde haired girl said as she paced around the room "he's not safe, he could end up hurting you!" they were of course talking about Rubys illustrious partner Solus, and Ruby asking him to train her.

Rubys silver eyes didn't leave the ground as she spoke "Can't you see Yang? I need this! We all need this! You heard what professor Port said!"

Yang continued her pacing "what Port said was a load of bull, we're plenty powerful and don't rely on our weapons-"

"But that's just you!" Ruby interrupted her "your weapons are your fists! Sure you may have Ember Cecilia but they just enhance your natural strength! What do I have? A giant scythe? I can't punch I can't kick, im great with crescent rose but without it im useless!"

Yang stopped her pacing and looked at her younger sister, her eyes were red but not out of anger towards Ruby "that's not true! You don't need your scythe to be great! And even then you always have it with you, so you won't ever be without it!"

Rubys eyes finally left the ground to look at Yang "but what if it's damaged? Or destroyed? I can't just rely on the one weapon! I need a back up that can't be taken away from me! Professor Port was right! We're all useless without our weapons! And even then we waste time! Solus doesn't do that and I wanna be the best huntress I can be, even if I have to learn from Solus!"

Ruby was panting as she finished her little rant; she was glaring holes into her sister for trying to be so over protective, so utterly _infuriating_.

"I can understand wanting to be the best you can be" Yang said looking her sister in the eye "but with Solus you just don't know! The guy is a psycho! There's no telling what he could do to you if you start training with him, you could be hurt or worse!"

"Stop being so over protective!" Ruby all but screamed

Yang recoiled as she'd been slapped, the look of hurt was clear across her features "Ruby i-"

The younger girl interrupted "no! Just listen, im not a little girl anymore! Im a huntress in training! If I can't fend for myself what good am i? I need to be stronger! And Solus is the best way I can get there!"

Yang wasn't crying, but she looked very distraught "Ruby cant you see im just trying to look out for you? I only want what's best for you, and it isn't Solus."

"And what makes you say that? He's stronger than you, stronger than all of us! Even Pyrrha!" Tears slowly worked their way into Rubys eyes "he is a survivor! You just need to look at his face to see that! He hasn't gotten this far by being weak… he knows how to survive"

"Ruby please…"

"No Yang! Im Training with him and you can't stop me!" with that said Ruby dashed past her sister and out the door, leaving the older girl alone in the RSYB dorm room.

Yang cried silently "damn it Ruby…"

* * *

Blake faced off against the huge silver behemoth, her aura was all but depleted and her left arm was hanging uselessly at her side with the bone sticking out at a sickening angle.

A bellowing laugh escaped the monster before her "my, my little kitten… you are a feisty one… But still so very weak."

In a vain attempt to attack Mortem Blake swung the single remaining half of Gambol Shroud. But the attempt was utterly futile because Mortem battered the blackened sword out of the way and booted the cat faunas hard in the chest.

Blake went flying backwards, he already cracked and broken ribs shattering under the monstrous strength of the huge bounty hunter. With a thump she landed on the ground, Blakes battered and broken body rolled a few times before coming to a stop, blood pouring out her mouth due to her ribs piercing her lungs.

Mortem slowly walked up to her prone form, taking his sweet time just to add to the terror Blake felt clawing through her ruined body "you have learnt nothing, you are weak, and you will die"

The last thing Blake saw before darkness over took her was the armoured boot of Mortem come crashing down onto her face.

* * *

Solus sighed, Blake had just finished her third attempt in the simulator, and it had ended just as well as her other attempts.

In utter failure.

Shattered ribs, broken arm, rolled ankle, crushed skull. She had done just as poorly as Solus had expected. And she had managed to last all of 5 minutes, although that was more due to Mortem playing with her than actual improvement on Blakes part.

With a slight grunt Solus pushed himself to his feet, slowly he began walking to the passed out form of Blake in the middle of the room, and she would be mighty pissed if he just left her on the ground like he did last time.

His limp was much less noticeable now, he didn't even need to use the bane of his existence to help move around, the cursed sword was back to being strapped around his back like before. Now he only had a slight limp, but he was getting better at using his prosthetic leg, it still hurt with a ghost of pain from time to time, but it was small enough that he could ignore it just like the rest of the pain his body felt regularly.

When he got close enough to Blakes prone form he gave her a gentle kick in the side to wake her, she stirred slightly, but didn't wake. He kicked her again and finally awareness came crashing back into the cat girls body.

As Blake opened her eyes she was greeted with the sight of Solus' ugly face twisted into a slight smirk of amusement "you lost. Again." The merc said

"uhhhhhh" was the intelligent reply her mind supplied her with, her thoughts still fuzzy from being knocked unconscious.

"well you should feel good about yourself" Solus said, a very slight mocking tone in his voice "you managed to get his aura down to 99.98 this time, that's a 0.02 improvement!"

Her thoughts finally cleared after hearing about her latest staggering defeat "fuck you" she said without any heat behind the words.

"Next time might I suggest dodging? Or perhaps even blocking. Your currant strategy of 'human punching bag' seems to be failing you" the snide tone of voice didn't help Blakes mood any.

Whatever the girl was going to say was cut off when Ruby burst into the room, her silver eyes were red and puffy from crying, but at the same time were alight with determination.

The younger girl hardly spared Blake a glance before she locked onto Solus and said "Solus, train me. Now."

Blake pulled herself off the ground and dusted herself off, and upon seeing that she obviously wasn't wanted she muttered to Solus "same time tomorrow" before leaving the room.

Solus levelled his single eyed gaze on Ruby, he didn't say anything for a moment, but after a few seconds of silence he finally said "anger is good Ruby… but control it, don't let in control you."

Ruby nodded and took a deep breath, letting the anger she felt to Yang just fade into the background, and setting her mind onto other things.

"Can we train now?" she asked after she cooled of a bit.

"Outside" Solus muttered as he began walking outside, Ruby following diligently behind him.

It wasn't a long walk, Solus led them to a open garden behind to the main building. There were a few flowers and other such plants scattered around, but for the most part it was just lush green grass.

There was only one other person, just a blonde haired girl that seemed to be frolicking among the flowers… and playing with a bumble bee.

Whatever, Solus had seen weirder.

With Ruby in tow Solus stomped up to the crazy flower and bee girl, and with a vicious kick he destroyed the flower the bee was on and caused the girl to panic "Noooo! My bumble bee!"

"Your bumble bee is dead, now leave."

With a muttered death threat the girl left, glaring wholes into Solus the entire time. "Was that really necessary?" Ruby asked

"Yes" was the entirely self assured reply.

Solus looked at Ruby, assessing her, she was weak in his eye, something to be used and discarded by those in power. People like Ozpin or Cinder, but he wouldn't stand for that, he owed it to Summer to make sure that Ruby was simply a tool for others.

"Give me your weapon" he finally said after the silence stretched a fraction too long.

Hesitantly Ruby passed over her beloved crescent rose. the merc took it in his hands, measuring the weight and deciding what to do and how to teach Ruby the futility of such a weapon.

With a dismissing toss the crimson scythe was thrown to the side, well out of the way of any 'teaching' Solus may impart.

"Fight me" Solus commanded to the disarmed girl "attack me with everything you have"

Ruby looked momentarily embarrassed "but... I don't know how to punch properly"

Solus snorted condescendingly "I didn't either, but I learnt by punching things. So will you."

Ruby looked at Solus questioningly for a second before raising her hands into a butchered version of Yangs fighting stance. With a yell the red clad girl charged at Solus, her right fist swinging in a punch at his face.

With a passive look covering his ugly features Solus took a step back and kicked dirt into his partners face and eyes. She stopped her attack short and started furiously rubbing her eyes while saying "that's not fair!"

In her blindness Ruby didn't see Solus move up to just within arms reach of her, with a hard shove the girl was pushed to the ground "life isn't fair" Solus said as he pushed her.

Ruby scrambled backwards onto her feet and away from Solus she was still blinking rapidly but she could see again. "You are born into this world with nothing" Solus continued as he leaped forwards and kicked Ruby into the air with his fake leg.

The red girl came crashing down to Remnant with a thump on the ground "and you are to die with nothing." Solus said as he walked up to the girl who was struggling to her feet.

She tried to punch him, but Solus dodged and threw her over his shoulder as he said "you are but one, surrounded by hordes of those that will humiliate you, burn you, destroy you…"

Ruby rolled around and went to kick his leg, but just before the attack landed she stopped because it was his wounded leg. She wouldn't do that…

But Solus pounced upon her weakness by picking the girl up and bodily throwing her to the ground again "you can't escape because your fate has already been decided long before you were born."

"That's not true!" Ruby cried as she leapt of her feet and attacked Solus with a flying kick to his chest, she moved with a flurry of rose petals, her speed was enough to seem like a blur.

But Solus was ready; with a tilt of his body he was clear of the kick. As Ruby sailed past him he stuck his arm out and she crashed into it and tumbled to the ground once again "no one needs you to be more than you already are; no one wants you to be."

Ruby screeched in frustration and lashed out in a punch towards Solus' unprotected groin, she felt sad that she had to resort to such a dirty move though.

Solus grabbed her fist and twisted it into an uncomfortable position behind her back. "You are unrecognisable, forgettable and disposable and that's all you will ever be… if not for four words."

He pushed her away, Ruby staggered a bit but turned to face him, anger evident in her features.

"I won't accept that."

With a howl of rage Ruby charged at her partner, attacking with a blindingly fast flurry of punches and kicks. The merc was hard pressed to block all of her attacks he slowly became a blur of motion as he battered away the onslaught his partner had presented him with.

Finally after about 30 seconds of her furious assault one of Rubys punches connected with Solus' cheek, it turned his head slightly. But it was obvious that it hadn't done any real damage to the merc, if anything he actually looked pleased. A smile spread across his maimed features, no words were said, but Ruby could tell he was pleased.

No words quite described the elation that Ruby felt, it was overwhelming, so much so that the anger and frustration that had consumed her mind only moments before vanished and left her feeling quite drained.

But the moment was ruined when Solus kicked her to the ground and bellowed out a laugh at Rubys expense. "That last hit took out your aura, im disappointed by how little stamina you have Ruby."

Ruby lay flat on her back and let out a huff of exhaustion, she had managed only one hit on the merc before he had defeated her, and she knew he was hardly trying. "Just give me a sec" she panted.

With a slight shrug Solus sat on the ground next to Ruby, normally he would be more demanding, but he was pleased enough with her progress that he would cut the girl some slack and give her a moment to regain her aura.

After a few seconds silence Ruby asked "hey Solus? Who unlocked your aura?"

A scowl marred Solus' face at the question, he didn't like that memory.

 _Jaune arc didn't know where he was, he was naked and his hair had been shaved off. Agony like he could never remember feeling pierced through his chest and the back of his head._

 _He was chained to the floor with heavy manacles that made his already aching body hurt more. His head was pounding and his memory was fuzzy, the last thing he recalled was the death of his family and the eclipse, everything else was drawing a blank._

 _Terrible anguish filled the boy, all his family was dead, all his friends were dead… he was alone in this cold and dark place. He didn't know how long he'd been here, it felt like days, it was just him and the crushing silence of his cell._

 _Suddenly light pierced the darkness around him, the change was so drastic that his eyes began to water at the harsh light. He almost preferred the dark at this point, the dark was familiar, comforting almost._

 _A door on the far wall opened and two imposing figures came in, one of them was speaking rapidly with fear evident in his voice "y-yes this is the one my lady… he s-survived the incursion b-by himself."_

 _Finally Jaune could clearly see the two people before him, the one that spoke was a thin elderly looking man with circular glasses and many wrinkles adorning his face. He looked absolutely terrified of the woman next to him though, and Jaune could understand why. Power seemed to roll off her in waves; her startling amber eyes seemed to burn with an intensity that scared his young mind. She had midnight black hair and a rather low cut dress, but over all she seemed like a predator, waiting for her prey to make the slightest wrong move._

" _And you say his aura is still partially bound?" the woman's voice was soft, almost melodic, but held the undercurrent of demand and power._

 _The elder man stuttered "y-yes C-Cinder, his a-aura unlocked itself, b-but not fully"_

 _The woman, or Cinder as it were, gracefully made her way to where Jaune was bound. Her burning eyes boring holes into his terrified blue ones, delicately she placed one of her dainty hands atop his bald scalp. With a brief flash of burning heat and pain Jaune felt power wash over him, old words shaking his soul "for it is in death that you awaken anew, through blood you become a hunter of beasts and mankind in search of ancient echoes." blood began pouring out of his eyes "swift in speed and tainted by blood, drown your soul, and by my word unleash thee."_

 _Cinder took a step back as Jaune screamed in agony, he was crying tears of blood that evaporated in sickening black miasma that seemed to pollute the air in the cell. His heart stopped beating for a full 30 seconds as both adults just watched on, with a start he came back again. He felt all his aches and pains soothe under a comforting power that felt both tainted and pure, he could feel a fraction of Cinders power within himself it felt wrong, it felt evil, and it felt old._

 _He began thrashing around like a wild animal, he could feel the corruption in his veins, polluting his soul and burning his body. Jaune was barely aware when the elderly man said "computer, begin the wipe."_

 _Red hot agony tore through his thoughts, his young mind burned with agony he had never before felt. Desperately his mind cried for comfort, to alleviate the terrible pain, but none came, things were fading away, his mother, his father. Did they have names? He… didn't know anymore… sisters, he had sisters, and he remembered them. They were… older than him… their names were… no… he didn't have sisters, what a silly notion. It was just him and his father… and his name was… Arc? No… that wasn't right… Jaune Arc?_

 _No, no that wasn't right… he never had a father, it was just him by himself. And his name was Jaune Arc! He was… the only Arc… Arc, yes that's his name. It felt hollow but that was right wasn't it? His name was… what's his name? What is name?_

" _You are Subject 13B" his mind supplied_

 _Subject 13B looked around his empty cell; wonder alight in his bleeding eyes. What a marvellous place! This was all he had ever known, this was the whole world._

Solus didn't answer Rubys question, he just let it hang in the air. That woman… he shuddered thinking of her, the power she had unlocked in him, the _tainted_ power, was strong, unbelievable. But it was _dark_ , dark enough to sicken even him, and in the back of his shattered mind he could feel that Cinder was still out there. Her plans hadn't ended with the director, not with Vacuo either, she was still hovering, waiting, watching.

There were few things on Remnant that Solus truly feared, but she was one of them. Cinder Fall was a nightmare, his nightmare.

 **A/N**

 **Well that certainly raises a few questions doesn't it?**

 **What did you guys think of Solus' little speech? And the different Aura awakening Cinder used? Scary stuff. Now for those of you who are, admittedly, like me and have questionable memory this is the original unlocking words that Pyrrha used on Jaune in Cannon: "** _For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee_ **"**

 **Compared to… "** _For it is in death that you awaken anew, through blood you become a hunter of beasts and mankind in search of ancient echoes. Swift in speed and tainted by blood, drown your soul, and by my word unleash thee._ **"**

 **Yeah, a bit different isn't it? Much less… positive.**

 **Well let's move on and get this out of the way now shall we? As I mentioned to my dear** **Fanfic shuffling** **last chapter Cinder does** _ **not**_ **have maiden powers, why? Because maidens aren't a thing in this story. The reason for that is quite simple, the concept for this story came to be at the end of Volume 1, so all the plot and characters were mapped out with the information I had at the time. I have tried to incorporate elements of Volume 2 and even 3 but the maidens and that silver eye business won't apply, nor will anything to do with Salem. Because it just won't work with whats gonna happen in the third arc of the story.**

 **But the good side to all that is you can expect some surprises and stuff later about Cinder, as well as a few other characters hint hint.**

 **All that aside, lets move onto the reviews…**

 **Niqi Rose:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Why thank you for the complements, i do try my hardest.  
As for my story going somewhere, the plot has been carefully planned out and as things are now we are moving onto the final portion of the story. The end of arc 2 is getting pretty close, and i promise that arc 3 will be an absolute... killer. It will be crazy, I promise.**

 **Nik41:  
** **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Yes, I myself practice** **Shitō-ryū style karate, and as such I often find things lacking in terms of fighting when watching anime or a fighting movie. But hey, Im pretty open in regards to stuff like that, so as long as it doesn't really affect me I don't mind.**

 **Yeah don't worry, I will count your vote for Ruby.**

 **As for what I think of volume 3s end… well as much as I liked Pyrrha I like Jaune more, and with her death his character will have much greater room to grow and become better than he already is. On another note, with Cinder having the Fall Maiden powers I am really curious as to whom has the other 3 Maiden powers, and why they didn't just rock up to Vale, curb stop Cinder, then go home. But all that aside I still liked the final episode, that stuff with Salem was interesting, I liked how she really just came across as someone with a personal vendetta as a pose to the "muhahahaha im evil!" kind of villain. I don't think Ozpin is dead, captured perhaps, or even having left of his own accord, but certainly not dead.**

 **Smithrooks** **:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Ruby will be in for a surprise for sure. As for Ozpin, is he really though? perhaps it would just be more accurate to say he just isn't using his kid gloves with Solus, he is still the same headmaster, in regards to him just think "the ends justify the means"  
Solus has issues identity, something of a constant personal crisis. Hearing about part of himself that he had all but destroyed is rough business, especially considering what he's done with his life compared to what other Arcs have done with their lives.**

 **Green Gustavo:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **The training is a… interesting point in the story, the reason for this is because, frankly, Solus isn't a good fighter. Unlike everyone else who have put in time and hard work to master their particular weapons Solus is something of a jack of all trades kind of fighter, he's okay with lots of different styles but a master of none of them. This is both a strength and a weakness, its good because it means he is flexible in how he fights, and can adapt to the needs of the moment, but its bad because he's not very good at any particular method of fighting and can be overpowered by skilled practitioners.**

 **What he's going to try impart on Ruby is that flexibility of fighting, and that will be important later when she has too- well, it will be important.**

 **Wagner:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Raven… interesting choice, very interesting considering that she hasn't actually been shown yet. But well, like many other characters she will make her debut in arc 3.**

 **DudebladeX:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
An interesting choice.  
Jaune has issues, no doubt about it, his rather... violent acts are both the cause and the problem.  
Well how WOULD they know? its not like he's been telling anyone. If anything id attribute that to the Director though, or perhaps even Cinder, she is just as at fault for Solus' life as the director is, if not more.**

 **Fanfic shuffling:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
And now you know, Cinder has a big end game coming, and once a long time ago subject 13B was just a pawn in her game, the question now though is: is she still using him? Is this just part of the plan?  
Haha what makes you think he hasn't already? Ozpin is a very clever man.  
Yes she does, but not in a direct way like Summer. Raven was more involved with Kira than Solus.**

* * *

 **All that aside lets move on to the poll! Many more people have taken the time to vote and for that I thank them.**

 **1** **st** **we have Ruby, with 17 votes.**

 **2** **nd** **is Raven (HA) with 8 votes.**

 **Tied for 3** **rd** **we have Yang, Cinder and Alcohol, with 6 votes each. I wonder how these girls would react knowing they are tied with a liquid?**

 **4** **th** **is Pyrrha with 5 votes.**

 **5** **th** **is tied between Kira (R.I.P) and Goodwitch (really?) with 3 votes each.**

 **6** **th** **is tied with Nora (you disappoint me if you voted for her) Coco and Summer (R.I.P) with each having 2 votes.**

 **And coming in dead last 7** **th** **is Weiss and Velvet, both ladies having only 1 vote to their names.**

 **So please go to my profile page and vote for who you think the lucky girl is! And as always, please leave a review.**


	29. Shadowed Soul

Edge of life

Chapter Twenty Eight

Shadowed Soul

 _13 peered down the scope of his beloved sniper rifle, before him was a well defended Mistrali military testing complex. He had been hired by the Schnee dust corporation to infiltrate the base and steal the new and revolutionary technology that the base was making, he didn't know why the Schnee family wanted any of the new technology, and frankly he didn't care. All 13 wanted was to get paid so he and 8, or Kira as she had taken to calling herself, could go home. Or perhaps it was the Red Lady now? So many names for one person, he could hardly keep track of it all._

 _His small radio crackled into life, Kira's voice coming out "the charges are set, 13 are you in position?"_

 _13 smiled to himself, his two blue eyes reflecting the moonlight. He always loved the sound of Kira's voice; she was always able to soothe his ruffled nerves "yes, im ready, blow the charges then make your way into the base"_

 _The plan was a simple one, 13 and Kira would enter the base from opposite ends, 13 would comb through the facility for any useful data or other things the Schnee family may want. While Kira at the other end of the base would draw the attention away from him by generally just making some chaos and causing what was no doubt going to be some bloody carnage._

 _13 knew she would be fine, Kira had only recently gotten the full upgrade from the Directors avatar, and she was nigh unstoppable now. Her metal bones gave her the strength to crush even the mightiest of hunters, and against normal military… well, it would be a breeze for the girl._

 _A series of loud explosions tore through 13s thoughts, the far end of the base erupted into flames and smoke. A keening wail of the facilities alarm broke through the almost deafening silence that followed, and distantly if 13 really strained his ears he could hear that maniacal laughter that bubbled out of Kira as she no doubt horribly killed several people._

 _13 burst into a run as he made his way into the base, the front door was his entry point, the guards having long since abandoned it in favour of going to help stop the utter chaos on the other end of the facility. Within a few moments 13 was in, the door codes only having given him a moments pause, with practiced movements he kept to the shadows. Stalking his way through the empty corridors and into the command center 13 was irritated to find that a few guards were still present, and they looked like they were on high alert too, probably tense due to the fighting that raged not too far away._

 _With but the click of a button all the lights in the base clicked off, the work of clever hacking on 13s avatars part. The soldiers were startled and began barking orders and other nonsense to one another, 13 didn't stop to listen, and he crept through the darkness of the large room, the other humans in the room utterly unaware of his presence. With sadly familiar movements he was behind the highest ranking guard and one swipe of the hand later the man had his throat slit and was bleeding out on the floor._

 _The other soldiers jumped at the sudden noise of their commander slumping to the floor in a growing puddle of his own blood. One of the men started spinning around rapidly trying to find whatever killed his superior officer, his torch was illuminating small portions of the room._

 _With a start the man caught a glimpse of young 13, but all the man could do was say "watch out! Its in the room wit-" then a echoing snap sounded throughout the room, the man slumped to the ground lifelessly, his neck twisted at a grotesque angle._

 _One of the more jittery soldiers turned his gun towards where the dead man had been standing, and sprayed automatic dust rounds into the darkness._

 _Almost all the shots missed, a few would have injured the young boy, but thankfully his aura absorbed the dangerous attack. With semblance enhanced speed 13 moved around the room at a blinding pace, after he was done he gave his now blood stained wrist blades a flick in a futile attempt to remove the thick red fluid._

 _After 13 had finished his grisly work all the guards collapsed to the ground in a red heap of bleeding corpses, all of them with their throats slit or their spines sliced his half from a well placed blade._

 _Ignoring a bullet hole or two 13 accessed the main computer and began pulling map information of the base; it wouldn't do to get lost after all. Almost in hindsight 13 pulled his radio and said "hey 8 how you going out there?"_

 _He of course already knew the answer, he could see the carnage on the base's security cameras, but it didn't hurt to ask._

 _The gleeful voice of Kira came through the small devise "oh im having a great time!" she said with full sincerity "these fools just don't stop coming! It's actually quite funny!"_

" _Im sure" 13 muttered, slightly jealous that Kira was having all the fun while he was relegated to grunt work._

 _After studying the map in detail for a few moments 13 left the room, quiet as a ghost in the darkened halls of the base. A few soldiers ran past him towards where Kira was, but they didn't see him and 13 just let them pass, he was on something of a time limit after all._

 _Eventually he found the door he was looking for, a giant thick hulk of steel. And to 13s great displeasure it was magnetically locked, he must have tripped some kind of alarm when his double killed the lights._

 _There was a small interface next to the door, but realistically 13 knew he didn't have time stop and hack his way in, because he was currently aiding an attack on a super secret and mega important military base. And as it turns out the government doesn't like it when people do that, they tend to shoot the offenders._

 _A fate 13 would very much like to avoid._

 _While amping up his semblance 13 pulled his radio and said "sorry 8, looks like stealth is out the window, im blowing my way though"_

 _With an echoing thump 13 punched the door with all his strength, a huge dent formed around where he had hit. "Fuck okay… I'll meet you at your entry point in 5 minutes, don't be late" Kira said_

 _Another punch, the dent got bigger. Another, his fist went right through the great door, but it stayed firmly in place. On the other side 13 could hear the terrified screams of scientists inside the room, he grinned slightly at the fear he was creating, he loved it when he was feared._

 _It felt powerful, and 13 wanted power._

 _13 plunged his hands into the gaping whole in the door, and with a mighty heave and grunt the metal door tore into two halves and clattered to the ground loudly. The researchers inside were obviously terrified, and 13 was feeling vindictive so he only dealt crippling blows to the grey haired men and women. They all screamed in agony as their hands were crushed, tendons severed and bones broken._

 _As the elders lay moaning in agony 13 worked through a computer in the center of the room, he was pulling files and data from every division of their research, a few things caught his eye and he copied them for himself as well._

 _Finally there were only 2 things left on the now nearly empty computer, the first was a weapon that 13 was highly interested in. it was a design for a set of gauntlets that would allow the wearer to shoot explosive balls of pure aura at an enemy, the design said they were useless in a large scale due to the ridiculous amounts of aura required to use the weapons… but that wasn't really a problem for 13 because his aura was massive, even bigger than Kira's._

 _And to his delight he saw that they even had a prototype pair of gloves in this very room!_

 _He copied the designs onto his personal files and that he was going to give to the Schnee's. it just wouldn't do to let such potential go to waste after all._

 _The last thing on the computer was… armour. Not just any armour though, even just at a glance 13 knew he wanted to keep this for himself. It was power armour; he design was titled 'power armour T-45 MK-II' just looking at the stuff 13 knew it was brilliant, whomever designed this must have been on par with the director in terms of raw intelligence. Screw the Schnee's, he was keeping this for himself, with armour like this he wouldn't need to get the upgrade from the deceased director, he would be slightly weaker but that was well worth it in 13s eyes. 13 hated and loved the director, he had made him into what he is, but beyond that 13 didn't want the pain the director's 'improvements' would inflict._

 _This… this was his way out of that._

 _13 only copied the armour designs for himself, then he deleted them from the bases computer._

 _With a maniacal grin 13 tore the computer to shreds, destroying any hope of file recovery. Okay time was running short so with slightly hasty movements 13 found where the computer had indicated the prototype gloves would be, a grin worked its way onto his face as he looked at the gloves, he would create such chaos with these._

 _With much care he forced the oversized gloves onto his smaller hands, nothing happened but he knew this was meant to happen, had had to force his aura through them to create the devastation that he so craved._

 _Okay… how to do this… he began pouring aura into and above his palms, trying to create the effect the computer had spoken of. The small clear crystal began to glow a dark white colour, a small grin of triumph decorated his clear face, he had done it!_

 _That's about when he realised he wasn't in full control anymore._

 _His aura had always been volatile, lashing out whenever it got the chance, but still undeniably powerful. But when given the chance like this… well his aura had control._

 _A blinding white explosion erupted from his hands, it consumed the back half of the room he was in, all his aura had been poured into the contained detonation, and it cooked him in the tainted white inferno of power._

 _With a single scream of pain and humiliation 13 crawled out of the room, his radio cackled to life as he dragged his damaged form across the ground "13! I heard an explosion what is your status!? Are you okay?!"_

 _With a wheezy voice 13 replied to Kira's frantic calls with "enemy grenade" no way was he going to tell her he blew himself up "im wounded and need help"_

" _hold tight, im on my way!"  
_

 _He didn't bother responding, his charred body hurt too much. He just kind of flopped of the ground in abject agony and humiliation, how could he be so stupid?! Using untested technology in the middle of a mission!? What a fool he had been! If Kira ever found out she would never let him leave the base again!_

 _Good thing he didn't plan on telling her._

 _He heard heavy foot steps running down the corridor, and 13 really hoped in was Kira, if it was a guard all he could really do was bleed on their armour, and that wasn't exactly the best defence in the world. Thankfully it turned out to be Kira looking rather frantic and stress, which only got worse as she laid her pale lavender eyes of 13s charred and batted body._

 _13 could_ _feel_ _the anger that poured off her frame, the negative energy was thick, and it didn't help that she was covered in blood of the dozens of guards that she had no doubt pacified while providing the distraction._

 _Ever so gently she picked him up and began carrying him bridal style as she ran towards the exit "who did this?" she said lowly so only he could hear._

 _Like hell was 13 going to tell her he'd done it to himself, so lying was his only option here "some guard" a wheezy breath escaped his battered frame "he died in the explosion."_

 _Kira burst through the door, they were outside now and the night air was crisp and slightly chilly. There was a very slight coppery sent in the air, 13 couldn't help but grin at the thought of all the chaos he and Kira had caused tonight._

 _Kira seemed slightly disappointed that she wouldn't get to kill whomever had done this to him, and 13 was adamant that she never find out "13" the upgraded girl said "I need to put you down for a second, just keep walking yeah?"_

 _Gently she set him down, and handed him a large sack with… something inside, 13 didn't know what but if the red stain at the bottom was anything to go by he didn't want to know, 8 had always been something of a sadist and if she wanted to keep 'trophies' then he wouldn't stop her._

 _He took the sack and limped in the opposite direction, Kira was probably just peeing in a bush somewhere. Or perhaps using him as bait for a search party, either was possible but knowing 8 it was probably the later._

 _Oh well, he trusted her._

 _After all, 13 and Kira would live forever, and nothing could stop them._

* * *

Solus hated his life.

He really did, after Vacuo things just seemed to pile up and get worse. Solus hated himself too, what he was, what he'd done, what he _couldn't_ do. All his past names, his past lives… it had all led to where he was now.

And that was stuck in a school full of idealistic fools and bound to a girl that was just too thick to realise he just wanted to be left alone. Ruby was a teenage girl, there was no other way to say it, she was a whiny little girl who still believed in heroes always winning and other crap like that.

Solus couldn't help but feel disdain for the word 'hero' there was no such thing, everyone wants something. To be so naïve… Solus could remember a time when he was the same, but that was easily a decade ago when he was still… well, when he was still whole.

Solus was depressed about all this because he had reached one conclusion: he tolerated Ruby the best.

He wouldn't call her a friend by any means, no his only friend had died in Vacuo, but out of everyone he associated with Ruby was the most… tolerable. Yang was a shallow girl that was incredibly annoying and, not that he could comment, had anger issues. Blake was just so… melodramatic, he fully understood that her life had sucked, hell he was the main reason for it, but for the life of him the girl was irritating, just move on for gods sake.

All this passed through Solus mind in an instant as Ruby clung to his arm and defended him from Yangs harsh words "-and you stay away from my sister!" the blond girl finished.

Solus had stopped listening after "hey asshole!" and he was frankly not in the mood to deal with this shit. He had just gotten back from Rubys second training session, which had ended about as well as the first, and he just wanted to have a smoke and maybe a nap. Was that so much to ask? Knowing his luck, yes it was far too much to ask couldn't the stupid blond girl just leave him alone?

The answer to that is a firm 'NO' apparently.

"Hey are you listening to me?!" Yang questioned angrily, completely ignoring Rubys shouts of protest.

"What do you want me to do Xiao-Long?" Solus questioned tiredly "drop dead? Trust me ive tried, but im just doing what Ruby asked me too: train her"

"She doesn't need your training!"

Solus snorted "obviously she does, you'd think that being the _good_ older sister that you are you would've shown Ruby how to protect herself without her weapon."

Yangs eyes were red in anger as she looked at the merc, she looked about ready to blow a gasket "how dare you?! Ive-"

"You've what? Defended her? Grow up girl; she's a huntress she needs to defend her self." Solus hissed.

Yang roared in anger and threw a punch at Solus, the merc deftly dodged, a smirk plastered across his ugly features. "You want to fight me Xiao-Long? Fine but not here" he gestured to the dorm room around them "combat room in five minutes"

Despite her growing fury at Solus Yang had the presence of mind to nod a storm out of the room, her hair flaming and her eyes a blood red.

Ruby whom had gone totally ignored up until now had finally had enough "Solus what the actual fuck!?" she yelled, uncharacteristically angry.

"She needs to learn to let you do your own thing Ruby" the merc said flatly.

"And you plan on what? Beating that into her?!"

"Yes" Solus said

Ruby sighed deeply, resignation finally crossing her face "just… don't hurt her please"

Solus snorted as he walked out the door "she'll live"

Somehow Ruby wasn't very reassured by that, so with resigned silence the leader followed her partner.

* * *

Both blond combatants faced each other, Yang was flaming in her fury and the air shimmered around the girl as she snarled and grunted like an animal. Solus stood opposite her, he was far more composed. A sneer marred his ugly features but unlike his opponent he was the picture of calm, on the outside he was serene.

On the inside the same could not be said, as always his thoughts raged and boiled like a menacing storm. Part of him wanted to hurt Yang, shame hew with a crushing defeat. But another part of him screamed not to, that this fight was irrelevant so he should just finish it as fast as he could and leave.

Solus didn't really intend to drag it out, but he wasn't going to do the best he could. The arrogance Yang had displayed earlier was… familiar, he knew what it was like to be filled with such righteous anger and the feeling that you didn't need anyone else's help, but he also knew what the come down from that is, the absolutely shattered confidence and hope, the crushing feeling of despair that filled every pour of your being. He'd been there, he knew both sides of it, after Vacuo he'd fallen apart, but he would be dammed if he saw this happen to Yang.

Not because he cared for her or anything, no he didn't care a whit if Yang was crushed like he was. No he was doing this for Ruby, for reasons beyond his comprehension Ruby dearly loved and cared for her elder sister, and if something happened to Yang then it'd negatively effect Ruby – something that he didn't have time for.

If his plan worked out like it was meant to he wouldn't be around much longer, but at the same time he still had his debt to Summer, something he would not let go unfulfilled. So Ruby needed her training now, while he still could.

Solus was snapped out of his thoughts when Ruby signalled for them to begin, Yang charged in with fire spewing off her body. It was hot enough to sear the air; the rage was so intense and _hot_ that it was getting hard to breath in the ring.

 _Perfect_ Solus thought as Yang launched a vicious right hook at him.

With speed that even Ruby couldn't match Solus dodged the attack, Yang kept punching at him though. His semblance was maxed out into his speed, if even one of Yangs punch's landed it would knock him flat, but none of them ever came close.

Heat washed over his form as Yang launched another hail of blindingly fast punch's and kicks, her rage mounted even higher as all her attacks completely missed their intended targets. Solus' face had morphed into a sneer of contempt as he dodged all of Yangs attacks, he was thrilled that Yang was being so foolish in letting her rage control her, but he was irritated that Ruby was sitting on the side lines watching in rapt attention and worry.

Oh well couldn't be helped, time for some psychological warfare.

With what seemed to be teleportation but was really just extremely fast movement Solus appeared on the other side of the ring, he stood stock still, pouring his semblance out of his speed and into his toughness. With some difficulty he said "you say you protect your sister, and yet it seems you cant even protect yourself" not true of course, he hadn't so much as touched her during the fight.

With a howl of anger Yang launched two blazing flares of red dust towards his face, a triumphant if slightly arrogant grin crossed her face as the rounds connected.

The dust cleared, and Solus hadn't moved so much as an inch, he was completely unscathed "and you fail to even hurt me, a stationary target. How can you hope to protect Ruby if you fail so readily?"

"Shut up!" the girl roared

With newfound power Yang leapt in again, her speed twice that of what she had before. But it wouldn't matter, Solus was ready.

The merc hadn't had enough time to put his semblance into his strength, but he was still more that capable of hitting Yang under is own power.

Just as Yang was about to finish her leap and hit the ground and Solus, the merc launched a vicious kick into her Solar plexus. The girl was thrown backwards and onto the ground, even as she gasped for air she felt her semblance give her a power boost from the blow.

In an instant Yang was on her feet her power had only gained a minor boost but anything was much appreciated when fighting someone like Solus. The merc glared at her as he stalked towards her slowly "you think you help her" he hissed "but are you really? Did she ask for your help? Does she _need_ your help? One day you wont be there to help her… and when that day comes she will either stand on her own – or not at all!"

Solus lashed out with a harsh punch with his right hand, Yang just barely managed to block it, his strength was so great that even just the force of the block activated her semblance and gave her more power. With her new strength she threw a punch at his unprotected face, but before the blow could connect his left leg came up and crashed into her jaw with a resounding thud that staggered Yang, but just gave her more power.

In an instant Yang was back at him, ignoring the pain in her jaw, she launched at the scarred man in a grapple ready to choke him into submission. Solus met her in the grapple, both combatants' arms locking together in a contest of raw strength. A look of surprise crossed the mercs ugly face for a second; slightly shocked that Yang was able to match his strength even for a moment let alone stay locked with him like this.

Yang was barely able to maintain the hold she had on her opponent, his power was fierce enough to make her strain against his far greater strength in an effort not to be completely overwhelmed. But to her dismay his surprise quickly shifted to amusement as his muscles began bulging out; she was unable to keep up anymore, her arms gave out and she was completely overpowered and thrown to the floor.

Yang didn't have time to move away or get to her feet, before she even hit the ground Solus' boot crashed into her face and sent her rolling across the ground. "Your have spirit Xiao-Long"

He kicked her again, this time in the gut "but this is the real world!"

Another kick, back of her head this time "the real world is COLD!"

He threw her into the air by her ankle, but before Yangs impromptu flight could go anywhere he lashed out with his fist in to opposite direction, multiplying the force of the blow and creating a spider web of cracks to appear in the tiled floor of the arena as she crashed back down "the real world doesn't care about SPIRIT!"

Yang made to move from her position on the ground, but Solus viciously grabbed her by the hair and hoisted her to his eye level "you want to be a hero!?" with his free hand he punched her in the face "then play the part and die like every other huntsman in history!" a series of punch's battered the girls face, making blood pour out of her nose which her aura had finally stopped protecting.

With a plop Solus dropped her to the ground, Yang was still conscious but her aura was depleted and could no longer fight "Ruby has to learn" Solus said as he looked upon his beaten opponent "and she wont learn with you mothering her all the time" his words were in sharp contrast with what he had been saying only moments before.

Gently Solus kneeled down and looked Yang in the eyes "I will teach her, then when she has nothing left to learn from me I will leave."

Even in her haze Yang understood the words, she understood what he meant, the solemn look on his face said it all.

Solus was on the way out.

 **A/N**

 **Okay that got dark fast, but good news is that we have an omake this chapter! Like last time this is again completely cannon with the rest of the story I just couldn't find a good place to put it.**

 **Omake:**

Ruby sat on the grass exhausted; she was out here waiting for Solus to show up for their training session. She hadn't even done anything other than classes today and yet she was tired, and all her bruises from her last session with Solus had yet to heal so she was feeling pretty crap.

"Ruby!" Solus barked as he walked up to her, a grin on his scarred face "good news! I brought you a sparring partner today!"

What? A sparring partner? Seriously? It wouldn't be Blake, she wouldn't let anything bother her at this time, because this was about when she had her after noon nap. While Yang didn't try to stop Solus training her now, she certainly wouldn't help.

Maybe it was someone from another team? Pyrrha? Ren? Nora? Weiss? Who could it be Ruby wondered.

A terrible roar broke through her thoughts, an Ursa major was behind Solus' grinning form.

Ruby felt the flash of terror looking at the beast, _this_ was her sparring partner?!

Solus still had her scythe so it was just… going to be… a fist fight… fuck.

With his shit eating grin still in place Solus set the beast on her, Ruby wisely enacted a brilliant tactical retreat that was very well thought out and planed.

In short: Ruby ran away screaming in terror.

Fleetingly she heard. Solus call out "have fun!" before she ran out of earshot.

 **A/N**

 **So that particular omake has been in the works for quite some time, it was inspired by a similar joke Team Four Star made in DBZ abridged. I found it funny, so I thought everyone else could find it funny.**

 **So that flash back was a very important, in case you don't already know why I'll just tell you because the suspense has been killing me for a while now: that was the day young 13 got the prototype design for his armour (Mortems armour) and that was the flashback of him raiding the military base that was mentioned in passing in chapter 7. So yeah that's cool right?**

 **So on other important stuff that small speech that Solus gave as he gave Yang a beating was an almost direct quote from cannon when Roman died, I was terribly outraged with his death, so as a small homage to his character his final words were used by Solus.**

 **Speaking of Solus, in his thoughts he mentioned a "** _ **plan**_ **" that he has, any theories and what that might be? And whats this about him planning on leaving? Dark days ahead I fear…**

 **In regards to Yang and how she lost, well its actually a surprisingly simple answer, one that was mentioned last chapter. She let her anger control her. Now don't get me wrong anger is a good thing, a very powerful tool. But it is just that, a tool. So in a fight it needs to be controlled, and not control you. I admit in my lowest moments when I was so tired I was dead on my feet I have let my anger control me, but I know that anger isn't a sustainable way to keep fighting, there has to be more.**

 **So on a slightly more light hearted note, Solus' opinion of Ruby has risen! Going from 'distain' to 'tolerable' from someone like Solus that's actually quite the achievement! Granted he still dislikes everyone else, but not Ruby! He… tolerates her! yeah… so much for a slightly more light hearted note…**

 **Okay, enough of my babble lets move onto the reviews…**

 **Nik41:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **I think we all know that Blake has no chance… at this point id say even she knows it.**

 **Wagner:  
** **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Interesting, do one for Ozpin then, im interested in what you have for him.**

 **takatomatsuki1fan:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Summers death was a turning point in his life, not in a good way though. She is almost a pariah in his eyes… well eye, basically a cautionary tale of what could happen… or happen again as the case may be.**

 **Daedelus' Muse:**

 **Thanks for reviewing, and the constructive criticism.**

 **Im always trying to better my writing, but sometimes im a little rushed with new chapters because I only have a week to write them and im rather busy most days. But thank you for taking the time to tell me how I could improve.**

 **The Lost Fox:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Haha I suppose I can understand that.**

 **Green Gustavo:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Yes that conflict is one of the main driving forces of this story, but I need to stress that Cinder isn't evil (in this story anyway…), if I were in her position I would have done the same. As for Solus' little speech… well he learnt to survive, fighting back came later.**

 **ThePirateHunter:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **An interesting choice, you and many others will be in for a surprise I suspect.**

 **Fanfic shuffling:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
1\. Vale isn't destroyed in cannon, just very damaged. As for what 'horrible' thing Cinder could do... well, i won't say but i can empathise with what she is going to do.  
2\. Yes, far, far worse.  
3\. Suppressed happy memories? By the beginning of chapter 1 Solus remembers everything, all his life. Solus only lost his memory of being Jaune Arc because of the director, which he, through means unknown to you, later regained.  
4\. Yes, but trust me, the events of the tournament will be secondary to everything else that's going on.**

 **Smithrooks:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Yes, a part of Cinders power is still within Jaune, and Cinder is old and deceptively cunning. If the meet again… well, I dare say that their 3** **rd** **meeting will end far worse for Jaune than the first 2.**

 **Haha the bumblebee is actually a running joke I have with my mother, she just has to accept that her beloved bee is dead (as dark as that sounds) because bumblebees don't fly north, not in winter, not in any season. Feel free to ignore that little rant…**

* * *

 **So lets move onto the poll!**

 **In 1** **st** **is Ruby with 20 votes.**

 **2** **nd** **is Raven (you guys don't see the issue yet…) with 12 votes.**

 **3** **rd** **is Cinder with 10 votes.**

 **4** **th** **is Yang (yes much romance, beats the crap out of her….) with 9 votes.**

 **5** **th** **is Alcohol (why is this so high in the ranking?!) with 7 votes.**

 **Tied for 6** **th** **we have Blake, Pyrrha and Goodwitch, each lady having 5 votes to their names.**

 **7** **th** **is Nora (you disappoint me if you vote for her) with 4 votes.**

 **Tied for 8** **th** **we have Kira (still dead guys) and Velvet, both with 3 votes.**

 **Tied for 9** **th** **we have Summer (also dead) and Coco, both with 2 votes.**

 **And coming dead last with only 1 vote is Weiss.**

 **So please go to my profile page and vote! Tell me who you think it's gonna be! And please leave a review and tell me what you think of this chapter.**


	30. Demons Run

Edge of Life

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Demons Run.

 _He was running. The others followed, always there, always watching._

 _A darkened forest rushed by him, all the trees withered and dead. Terror clawed at his spirit, voices blurred through the shadows that rushed by, it was his fault, he could feel the shame, the anger, the hate that they piled on to his weary soul._

 _How could it have come to this?_

 _Jaune Arc ran as fast as his little legs could carry him, terror was flooding his system, he could hear the calls the whispers that begged him to run faster, to die, to live. He heard it all but Jaune ran anyway, he could hear his parents calling his name, he could hear his sisters begging him to join them in their rest._

" _Jaune…" they whispered from behind the trees._

 _He kept running, he didn't want to face them. His two blue eyes shined in horror and guilt, this couldn't be happening, this wasn't happening._

 _Thunderous footsteps behind him told the boy that the beast was watching, the beast he was, the beast he had become. Suddenly his parents appeared before the boy, John Arc stood tall with his shining blond hair ruffled atop his head, Jane Arc's shining blue eyes looked at him with disgust._

 _The young Jaune stopped dead in his tracks to stare at his parents, both looked at their son with the utmost hatred and revulsion "You're a monster, a filthy murderer and nothing more, you aren't my son" the words of John Arc felt like a stab in the chest._

" _Pathetic, you should have died rather than slander the Arc name!" the cold words of Jane created a painful absence in his heart, why were they doing this? He loved them! He only wanted to make them proud! "Im ashamed to know your name, you're not even human anymore!"_

 _Young Jaune took an involuntary step back as if he'd been slapped, but his back connected with something cold and hard. Jaune whirled around and came face to face with the towering monstrosity of Argentum Mortem, the huge beast of a man stood at over 7 feet tall and his glowing red eyes burned holes into the young Arcs soul._

" _You are mine" the monster said "body and soul."_

 _The words of his parents behind him made him turn to face them once again "you are a disgrace, pathetic, you don't even deserve the air you breathe"_

 _No no no this couldn't be happening! He loved his parents, what had he done wrong? Why did they hate him? He was so afraid…_

 _Another voice joined the party, this one deep and gravelly in an almost painful way "no, you belong to neither of them! You are nothing, nameless, soulless and unknown. You are just a survivor, the only survivor"_

 _Jaune turned to face the newcomer, it was a man that looked about 18 or 19 years old and he looked startlingly similar to his father John Arc. Except the new mans face was covered in scars and he had an eye patch over the left side of his face, a massive scar cleaved through the left eye socket and numerous other smaller scars littered his face, although all paled in comparison to the one that took out his eye._

 _Mortem gave a hiss of displeasure upon seeing the scarred man "no you are mine! Together we are death! Together we are Mortem!"_

 _His mother spoke again "I hate you, you sicken me"_

 _Then his father spoke "I wish you were never born"_

 _Before young Jaune could do or say anything both his parents burst into flames and began burning to death right before his eyes, they didn't scream, they just burnt in silence and watched him with malice streaked across their faces._

" _No!" Jaune sobbed as he watched his beloved parent's burn to a crisp before him._

 _The scarred stranger looked sorrowful but resolute "Jaune they're gone, ashes in the wind, leave this place"_

 _The forest around the trio erupted into crackling flames, the dead trees burnt easily and soon the temperature became almost unbearable._

" _NO!" Mortem roared as the flames began to burn at everything "you are MINE!"_

 _Soon Jaune too burst into flames; the searing agony coursed through his veins and seared his broken spirit._

* * *

 _13 stood in an empty field; a gentle breeze swept through the grass and made a tree in the distance gently sway. All was peaceful, serene even._

 _And he hated it.  
_

 _Where was the chaos? The rush of uncertainty that came with what he understood as life? It was empty here, soulless even, he hated it here._

 _A voice suddenly spoke from behind him, making the boy whirl around to face whoever was there "your evil, a dreadful monster"_

 _It was… himself? A few years younger perhaps, but undeniably him. "What? No im a survivor! I am subject 13!"_

 _The younger him looked at his older variant with hatred "no! You're Jaune Arc! Son of John and Jane Ar-"_

" _No im not!" 13 roared "im subject 13B! I have no parents! I am a warrior!"_

 _A new man appeared; this one looked about 15 or 16 and wore torn and raggedy sand coloured clothing that covered everything but his face and his fingertips. "No you're not" the new guy said, even as a trickle of blood escaped his throat "you're just another face, a nobody, a wanderer"_

 _13 looked at the new man, he was dressed for the desert that's for sure, his clothes were little more than rags that haphazardly covered his body. His face had a massive and recent scar that cleaved across the entire left side and had obviously taken an eye. The scar looked so fresh and recent that it was still bleeding and the stitches were visible despite the fact that many of them were broken._

" _No" 13 declared despite the uneasiness he felt looking at the younger version of himself and the desert man "I am a warrior, my name will be immortal! I shall live forever!"_

 _The desert man spoke "you are nothing, all things die, all life ends. And one day even your name will have passed from memory."_

 _Jaune Arc spoke next "you could have been a hero, a man of the people, a great man!" then he looked disdainfully at the desert man "but now your fate is sealed, you are alone and you will die alone, un-mourned and forgotten."_

 _Un-founded terror began to claw through 13s veins, that couldn't be true… subject 8 had promised him that they would live forever; their names would echo throughout the ages and be told in fear and awe for centuries! He wouldn't just… die and be forgotten, that wouldn't happen… that couldn't happen…_

 _The desert wanderer spoke again, his rough voice hollow with the echo of past torment and pain "you are just another face among thousands, in time you will be swept away in the wake of history, in eons past no one will remember you, even your existence will be forgotten."_

 _13 recoiled in horror at the mention of his greatest fear, that wasn't true! Soon he would choose a name for himself and the world would never forget him! He was… will be immortal!_

 _Terror and pain clawed through the boys mind, the ground seemed to split open and consume him, and the others vanished into the darkness and were immedently lost from sight. 13 was falling, always falling the darkness was unending and all consuming, the absence of any light was so disconcerting that 13s terror and fright mounted to new levels._

 _Just as he thought he was going to fall into utter madness in the face of the unending darkness, light appeared, and with it pain._

* * *

 _The wanderer looked out over the burnt and scorched plains of Vacuo, what used to be deserts of sand had become deserts of glass and dried blood._

 _The ghostly image of his love Kira stood before him, her pure white robes were a harsh change from the charred glass and sand that surrounded both of them "why'd you do it 13?" she asked of him, her voice soft but full of accusation "we were meant to be together forever, and you betrayed me, you killed me."_

 _The wanderer wailed in emotional agony "No!" he cried as tears gushed out his single eye "I-I came to save you! To find you!"_

 _A hot breeze passed through and blew Kira's hood off revealing her beautiful lavender eyes and raven black hair "you killed me, i loved you, I thought you loved me"_

 _More tears, more guilt "I do love you! B-but the director-"_

 _A new figure appeared, just as ghostly as Kira, but this one seethed intelligence and the will to survive. It was the director, his circular glasses and slightly crumpled brown suit simply served to lull into a false sense of security, the man was deviously cunning and intelligent. "My dear subject 13 I only did what was necessary, the rest was you"_

 _The wanderer fell to the ground and curled into a ball to hide his tears from the two defining figures of his life "no no no I-I did what you made me do! You poisoned me! I-I my mind was-is corrupted by your lies!"_

 _Kira's voice broke through his despair, the accusation was clear in her words "don't blame him 13! He made you but he doesn't control you!"_

" _13 you-" the ghostly director started_

 _The wanderer interrupted "im not 13! Im not! Im not! Im… im just a wanderer!"_

" _What are you then?" the director hissed with sudden anger "Jaune Arc? Fool! You cannot be him again! He is dead and gone!"_

 _The wanderer wailed at the mention of his true name, the horror of what he is and what he'd done was still flowing strongly through his mind. "Im not!" he begged._

" _We were going to live forever!" Kira said with the utmost accusation in her voice "we were going to become legends! And_ _this_ _is what you have become!? You aren't worth even the feeble power you hold! You are nothing! Just ashes in the wind!"  
_

"Solus wake up!"

 _The wanderer wailed more, his throat was torn and bloody from breathing the glass in the air, but still he cried out in emotional agony "please! I did this because I had too! There was no other way!"  
_

 _Both the director and Kira stood over his fallen form and looked at him with hatred, he was nothing, not worth even the glass he lay on. Kira looked at his recently maimed face and spat on him "you killed me, what those Schnee's did to you? It wasn't enough. We could have been gods together and you traded all that away for what? Memories of your weakness? You fool!"_

"Solus wake up! Please!"

 _The wanderer cried as he looked at the ghostly form of his deceased love, he had done it because he had too! Why couldn't she see that? It wasn't just for himself it was for everyone! Not because he was Jaune Arc, not because he was subject 13 or Argentum Mortem, but because he had too! Why didn't she see that!?  
_

" _P-Please…" he begged, he wanted to die; only death could save him now._

 _The director looked into his single blue eye; malice was streaked across the older mans face. His former subject was nothing to him now, not even worth the cold embrace of death, his punishment would have to be greater than that "you don't deserve to die 13; your punishment will be far greater! Life will be your prison! My will is law and you will obey!"_

"Solus!"

Awareness came crashing into Solus, he was drenched in his cold sweat and he felt the terror of his nightmare still flowing through his body. Dimly he was aware of Ruby at his bedside saying something to him but he didn't know what, the mercs mind was preoccupied with the fleeting vestiges of his nightmare.

Ruby was calling his name again but Solus was deaf to it, his own torment boiled through his mind, he knew it was just a dream, he knew it wasn't real and never could be real. But it still terrified him to his core, the judgement of the Arc family was one of his greatest fears and frankly the rest of the dream was enough to make terror claw through his waking mind.

"Solus!" Rubys voice finally broke through his haze.

His single blue eye focussed on Rubys silver orbs, such innocence… "wh-Ruby?" he asked intelligently.

"You were having a nightmare and it…"

Solus tuned out for the rest, it was mostly just garbage on how she was so scared and how she was glad she was alright. Dully Solus noted that Yang and Blake weren't in the room with them, a glance at his scroll told the merc that it was only 9:11 in the morning and they didn't have classes today. "Where are Yang and Blake?" Solus asked lacking any venom his voice usually held.

Ruby looked a little put out that Solus didn't care for her obvious concern for him, but answered the question anyway "don't you remember? Today we agreed to make some team attacks, so Blake and Yang went early to get a good spot in the training rooms."

Did he agree to that? He didn't remember anymore, but it hardly mattered because he'd go along with it anyway, that nightmare had left him to tired to really argue. And besides, it would be a decent way to get back onto speaking terms with Yang. She had been… annoyed… that he had defeated her, and while personally he didn't much care if Yang was sour towards him he knew it would affect Ruby, and that's something that he couldn't have – not this late in the game anyway.

"Oh…" he muttered quietly, still too tired to feel any anger or irritation "when are we meeting them?"

"In half an hour" Ruby said while looking at him sadly.

Solus didn't much care for the look of pity she was giving him, so he pushed his way out of bed and past her towards the team bathroom. There was a slight limp in his step again, mornings were terrible for his fake leg because he wasn't fully aware himself and by extension he didn't exactly have full control of his normal body parts – coffee was the only cure to this.

It also didn't help that he was technically meant to detach the prosthetic limb while he slept, something about giving his brain a rest from trying to deal with the frankly jarring sensory input and information. It wasn't like a real limb you see, he didn't 'feel' anything from the fake leg, in lieu of actual feeling the limb just 'told' his brain what was happening. It was rather disconcerting actually, he was aware if his leg was touched, if it was hot or cold, but there was never anything other than that, no feeling, no real pain.

That didn't stop phantom pain though.

Sometimes he would feel a terrible ache across the whole limb; he even sometimes felt the familiar ache and strain from the knee. But there was nothing he could do about it; it was just a constant now, like so many other things in his life.

"Solus?" Rubys voice snapped him out of his thoughts just as he was about to go into the bathroom "can I ask you a question?" she looked so hopeful.

Internally Solus couldn't help but smirk, Ruby was many things, annoying, irritating and frankly whiny. But he couldn't help that forget sometimes that she was actually pretty intelligent, she had asked him that when she knew he was most likely to answer, clever girl.

"After my shower" he said before stepping into the bathroom to clean himself.

As he was about to step into the hot shower water Solus decided to remove his fake leg, it was starting to really wear him down, the constant fatigue that came with the powerful limb was strong. He gently placed the fake limb on the floor and felt the headache he hadn't realised he actually had fade into the background, the stump he had in the middle of his left thigh was… he didn't know how to describe it, it was like a metal disk had been attached to the stump and he could see all the little connections that would combine with the prosthetic and send him brain signals.

He stepped into the shower and let the hot water roll over him, how nice it felt to be under the water. He felt like he could stay there forever, to wipe away all the grime that stained his soul and all the blackness he felt tainted his aura from whatever Cinder had done to him.

That witch had unlocked the rest of his aura, and unlocking someone's aura was a very… personal thing. The person who does the unlocking inserts a part of their soul into the other, then forces their aura out, but usually its done by family because the one getting their aura unlocked will always have some vague awareness of the person that unlocked them. Not in the sense that he knew where Cinder was specifically or anything, but enough so that he knew that Cinder was still alive, that witch was nearby too, he could feel it in his bones. She was in Vale, of this he was certain.

With a sigh he turned off the water and hopped out of the shower, he supposed he would answer Rubys question, whatever it was. Besides she was fairly gullible, if he really didn't want her to know the answer to whatever she was going to ask he could always just lie. He'd always had a talent for lying anyway; it would just be more practice.

With his usual jeans and hoodie get up Solus stepped out of the bathroom, his limp gone and a slight scowl marring his face. "Your question Ruby?" he asked.

The girl jumped and fumbled with the radio on her scroll she had been listening too "and in other news" the reporter said "dust robberies in Vale are at an all time high, making dust prices go through the roof-"

Whatever else the man was going to say was cut off when Ruby finally managed to turn the device off. "Solus" she squeaked "I uh…"

This was wasting time, so he gave her an impatient look that meant 'get on with it'

"whathappenedtoyourleg!" she said so fast that it took him a moment to decipher the actual words.

"'What happened to my leg'?" he repeated, surprised by the question. He'd been expecting something different, maybe about his nightmare, but not this "why do you want to know?" he asked sceptically.

Maybe she was concerned for him? Nah that wouldn't be it, no one ever cared about him anymore, not after he killed Kira. He deserved all the distain he could get.

Ruby looked uncomfortable to the extreme, not really wanting to be questioned like this "well…" she said, not meeting his questioning gaze "you always limp in the morning and it's been weeks since Forever Fall and you still haven't told us…"

That was true he supposed, it had been quite some time and he still hadn't given any information on what had exactly happened to his leg. And Solus knew he hated it when people kept things from him… should he tell her? Obviously he wasn't going to say what _exactly_ happened, but it would cease any questions for awhile.

Oh why the hell not?

Solus made his way over to the nearest bed, which was Yangs if the garish yellow colour theme was any indication, and sat down. Ruby looked like she was ready to question what he was doing, but stopped when a audible click sounded out.

Ruby watched in muted horror as Solus slowly pulled the fake leg off and out his jeans, the limb was gently placed on the floor and Solus looked at Ruby expectantly, waiting for her questions.

Ruby stared at the fake leg in both fascination and horror, a million questions flashed through her mind in less than a second, the foremost being 'what the hell happened?!'

Solus must have found the girls shocked look slightly amusing if his rumbling chuckle was anything to go by, a slight scowl worked it way onto his face "liquid fire dust, hurt like a bitch."

Finally Ruby found her voice again "wha… how?!"

"Enemy was smarter than I gave him credit for" Solus said, and as an after thought muttered "or maybe im dumber than I thought."

Again Ruby was at a loss for words, liquid fire dust? That must have been excruciating beyond belief, Ruby couldn't even begin to imagine the pain and terror Solus must have felt…

Rubys gaze was filled with pity as she looked at Solus "why didn't you call us? Or even tell us?" she whispered as she looked upon the broken man.

"Why would i?"

Those words struck Ruby like an anvil, he was right, their entire team was dysfunctional. Ruby and Yang were close but that's only because they were sisters, no-one on the team really knew anything about Solus – or got on with him for that matter. And Blake was… well Blake, she didn't exactly offer much personal information or anything, mostly just death glares when you interrupted her reading.

Ruby was going to fix all that; she would make them a team.

Solus couldn't help but release a long and drawn out sigh as Ruby looked at him with pity and then got a stupidly determined look on her face, whatever it was she was planning he knew it couldn't end well for him.

With a slight grimace Solus re-attached his leg and stood, Ruby didn't even seem to notice she was so locked in her own thoughts. Solus gave her a hard poke to the gut to snap her back into the present, her eyes were startled as she looked at him, but before she said anything Solus was already walking out the door. Almost as an after thought he called out "come on, the others are waiting for us."

With a cry of "hey wait up!" Ruby dashed after her partner.

* * *

All of team RSYB stood in an empty training room; Yang, Solus and Blake were all looking at Ruby expectantly. Waiting for their 'glorious' leader to explain what exactly she wanted them to do.

"Well…" Ruby said looking slightly awkward at all the attention "all the other teams have got joint attacks and stuff but we really don't… so I though… that we should?"

That was true, but it wasn't exactly an issue at this point, each member of the team was strong enough on their own that for all the battles they've had they can just do their own thing and still win by a pretty big margin.

"Well what do you have in mind sis?"

All awkwardness faded from Rubys posture as she began talking "I know were pretty strong already so but I think we need some coordinated attacks. I even have a few ideas!"

Solus couldn't help but groan, the idea of tem attacks wasn't a bad one, but he knew that Ruby would think of a bunch of stupid names for each attack.

He wasn't wrong.

"well the first idea I had is for you and Solus-" the merc didn't miss how Yangs lips curled in distaste at his name "could attack together and punch the opponent _REALLY_ hard!"

 _That… wasn't actually such a bad idea_ Solus thought, if they could time it right their attack would-

"We'll call it fists of fury!"

…and just like that it was ruined. Must Ruby always act like _such_ a 15 year old girl?

 _Yes_ he snarked in his mind, because she _is_ a 15 year old girl.

 _Fuck my life_ Solus though miserably as Ruby kept talking.

It would be a long day…

 **A/N**

 **Solus is** _ **such**_ **a drama queen, but I really cant blame him, after all I am the one that made him haha.**

 **Give us your thoughts on the nightmare from the beginning of the chapter, it was something I had planned since the early stages** **the story. I was really trying to impress upon all of you that Solus is very much a broken shell of Jaune Arc and while he does remember all of his life, he doesn't exactly accept it all. Nor does he care where it is leading him, all roads of life lead to one end after all.**

 **So lets move onto the reviews…**

 **Guest:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Despite the fact that your review was for chapter 24 I hope you can see my answer. Can Jaune change any part of his body? Sort of... He can only change his physical limits, so while yes it can be anywhere on his body from his little toe to his lips even, that's not what he uses it for. Jaune can only change things like his strength, his speed, endurance, flexibility. Things like that.**

 **Smithrooks:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Mistrali actually, the Schnee's just wanted it for as of yet undisclosed reasons. And yeah, he was 10 years old in that flash back… and while yes he still was a unrepentant killer he was also a child.**

 **The team dynamic within RSYB will be expanded upon, for now I'd settle with mild resentment and anger for Yangs opinion of Solus.**

 **Raven kight:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **I found it terribly amusing, still do actually hahaha.**

 **Wagner:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Lets try some harder ones shall we? How about Goodwitch, Oobleck and Port?**

 **Nik41:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **DBZ… good times…**

 **But yeah thanks for the complement.**

 **Fanfic shuffling:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Please do me, nay, all those that speak English a favour and learn what grammar is** _ **please**_ **. Also please refrain from leaving a review that has nothing to do with the chapter.**

* * *

 **So all that aside lets take a look at the poll:**

 **In 1** **st** **we have Ruby with 24 votes.**

 **2** **nd** **is Raven (who is d- well, you'll see) with 13 votes.**

 **3** **rd** **is… Jesus Christ… Alcohol with 11 votes…**

 **4** **th** **is Cinder (who im sure would be less than impressed with being beaten by a liquid…) with 10 votes.**

 **5** **th** **is Yang (um… why?) with 9 votes.**

 **Tied for 6** **th** **are Velvet, Pyrrha, Blake and Goodwitch, each lady having 5 votes.**

 **Tied for 7** **th** **have Kira (still dead) and Nora (still crazy) with 4 votes each.**

 **8** **th** **is the still deceased Summer with 3 votes.**

 **9** **th** **is Coco with 2 votes.**

 **And coming in dead last is Weiss with 1 vote because it seems that no-one likes her, pity.**

* * *

 **Anyway don't forget to leave a review!**


	31. Innocence Lost

Edge of Life

Chapter Thirty

Innocence Lost

He was a blur of motion.

One wizened hand clutched the cane tightly as the weapon sped through the air at a pace that appeared little more than a green and black blur. The aged headmaster pushed through any physical barrier created by his advanced age and attacked the towering monstrosity before him, the blows rained down on the behemoth known as Argentum Mortem.

It was just a simulation, but Ozpin couldn't help but feel the excitement and adrenaline flow through him. It had been years since he had fought someone on his level, and Argentum was more than powerful enough to challenge the ancient headmaster.

It didn't mean he was powerful enough to win however.

The chosen battle field was on one of the many highways of Vale, the crisscrossing network of roads was being utterly demolished by the epic battle between the two super powers.

Ozpins attention was snapped back to the present when a burst of blue lighting escaped Mortems outstretched hands, the headmaster moved with unnerving speed and brought his beloved cane up in front of him to shield from the murderous energy.

The blue arcs of lightning were caught in the cane and didn't manage to connect with the intended target, but Mortem didn't wait around for long, in an instant the huge silver behemoth jumped backwards and into the air. A huge violent ball of red energy held above his head, only moments away from being hurled at the pesky headmaster.

Ozpin didn't waste a moment either, the moments his spectacled eyes saw the giant orange death ball he slammed the tip of his cane into the ground, a violently pulsing green shield sprung into life around him. The bubble of protective energy pulsed with immense power and Ozpins eyes were alight with determination.

With a roar of anger Mortem threw his attack at the ageing headmaster, the effect was immediate. The highway was utterly destroyed and many surrounding buildings began to collapse from the resulting shockwave.

The towering silver monstrosity that caused the devastation began to howl in laughter at the apparent demise of his opponent, but he was utterly unprepared for what came next. Ozpin shot of the rubble and dust and attacked the killer with a blindingly fast hail of strikes that would put any normal hunter down.

But Argentum Mortem wasn't a hunter.

The merc was thrown back by the surprise attacks, but Ozpin pressed the advantage and continued his assault. The infamous bounty hunter was thrown onto one of the lower high ways, Ozpin was quick to follow and with strength that belied his age shot down like a rocket in an attempt to impale the merc as he landed, but he didn't get the chance.

The moment Mortem touched the ground he rolled, leaving Ozpin to stab nothing but concrete. Another burst of lighting, this time it connected with the intended target. The killer lightning travelled up Ozpins body, illuminating his skeleton and eliciting a yelp of pain at the agonising energy.

Mortem didn't hold the lightning for long; otherwise he would drain the power of his suit too much. Instead he rocketed forwards and punched the elder man in the face with all his might, the aged headmaster was thrown backwards and onto the ground and into a roll. Argentum moved to continue his assault, but Ozpin was having none of it, the man released another blindingly fast hail of strikes that Mortem struggled to follow. Each hit resonated on his armour with a loud clang and left very slight dents in the massive silver behemoth.

The merc let out another roar "I AM MORTEM!" before a blinding white explosion consumed both combatants and destroyed yet another highway.

Ozpin was sent flying backwards and his clothing had taken on a charred and burnt appearance as he was thrown across the ground in a burnt mess.

Mortem faired little better, the his armour may be the single most powerful protective piece of technology in all of Remnant, but that still didn't protect him from his own foolish decisions. His left arm was utterly destroyed and was now little more and a lump of twisted metal and ruined flesh hanging by little more than a thread.

The merc groaned in agony but the suit poured pain relieving drugs into his system that made him ignore the terrible pain that had replaced his left arm.

Slowly Mortem pushed himself to his feet and began stalking to where Ozpin was slowly rising himself. If the headmaster was at all disturbed by the gored form of his opponent then he didn't show it, instead he pushed himself up and began to speak in a slightly strained voice "you cannot win Slayer of Independence"

The towering figure of Mortem didn't stop moving towards the headmaster, the moment he came within reach his single remaining hand shot forwards with his wrist blade extended, ready to slit the elder mans throat.

Ozpin was having none of it though; he deftly pulled himself back and out of the way just in time to avoid the instant kill. The grey haired man then stepped to the side and with surprising strength jammed his cane through the glowing right eye of Mortem, the cane sunk in deeply and the bounty hunter wailed in pain.

Ozpin pushed it in further though, and gradually the beasts struggle became less and less, with a pained fury Mortem hissed "if I die, everything dies with me!" finally the merc went utterly limp and there was a dull thud from the cane impacting the back of the helmet.

The body of Argentum Mortem slumped to the ground lifelessly, but that wasn't the end, a cold artificial voice said "warning! Self destruct initiated! System error! Containment failure, dust fusion core unstable!"

There was a moment of silence on the ruined highway as Ozpin gaped at the words in horror. A dust fusion core?! One of those going off would take out over a third of the city!

"Pre-recorded message: die in hell fucker"

Ozpin didn't have time to react, the explosion wiped away everything, not even ashes remained. Only molten glass and a crater stayed, just like Vacuo.

* * *

The girls of team RSYB watched in open mouthed horror as the simulated fight between Ozpin and Argentum Mortem came to and end. Neither fighter had really won, the headmaster had… arguably… been the winner however. But even then he didn't really survive the fight, Mortems power was just to great, his will to live too strong.

Solus shut down the simulator with a grimace, Ozpins fight had so far been the most devastating of all the simulated fights so far. Which was actually quite the achievement considering Mortems penchant for blowing stuff up for shits and gigs.

Solus turned on his chair, his eye locking with Rubys "go wake him up" he said stiffly.

As soon as Ruby left the little control booth Yang turned to Blake and muttered something that Solus couldn't quite hear, but the raven haired faunas girl nodded and left the booth as well. Leaving Solus and Yang alone.

"Solus" Yangs voice was… hard.

Solus turned his chair around and looked Yang in the eye "Yang" he said cautiously.

The golden haired girl seemed to struggle to find her words for a moment, she still looked hard and un-yielding, but now unsure "your cruel" she began "your heartless, your unpredictable" the girl began pacing, refusing to meet his gaze "your selfish, and you enjoy hurting others"

Solus wasn't really sure where Yang was going with this, what she said was true despite how much half of him hated himself for it. "Yang what are you-"

"But you're helping Ruby" she interrupted, her eyes finally meeting his gaze "And for whatever reason you're doing it, whatever stupid justification you have, it's still helping Ruby"

Solus didn't like the way she was saying that, it made him sound like one of those stupid bleeding heart types…

"And I suppose… I was wrong to try and stop you helping her."

The words hit like and anvil, Yang admitting she was wrong? Were pigs flying? Was the apocalypse finally upon them?

Solus was too stunned to speak, he never thought he'd live to see the day Yang admitted she was wrong about something. But something like this? Ruby must have forced her to do this surely.

With his voice finally found Solus said "im helping her because it's what Summer would have wanted. That woman deserved better than what she got, and I'll see to it that Ruby doesn't end up the same."

Yang looked saddened at the mention of Summer, a familiar weight of regret and sadness filled her being "did… she suffer?"

Solus sat in silence for a few moments, memories of his brief time with Summer flashing through his mind. Had she suffered? Yes, her end had been painful, it had been cold, and he regretted what he had done to 'save' her. But was that what Yang wanted to hear? Probably not, but he had asked "Yes, her death was a painful one" he said lowly.

A quiet almost unperceivable sob escaped Yangs form, and for reasons Solus didn't fully understand nor care to admit, he felt pity for the girl before him "Yang" he started, unsure of what he was trying to accomplish "Summer did her duty, and she… well, she did her best."

Yang didn't really reply, she nodded her head silently. Maintaining the quiet that had settled in the small booth the girl stepped out and left the room entirely, ignoring the question from Ruby asking if she was okay.

* * *

Team RSYB was in their dorm, all sitting on their respective beds as they listened to what their leader said. It wasn't anything they all didn't already know, Ruby had just pointed out how little they knew about each other but they could fix that if they played the little game she had suggested.

Solus was adamantly against playing a stupid little game to 'get to know' his teammates, what was the point? It's not like he was going to be around much longer.

Yang didn't seem to mind, but wasn't really pushing for it, she still felt emotionally drained from earlier.

Blake looked like she didn't really care either way.

"So I'll go first" Ruby announced "as you know my name is Ruby and I like cookies and strawberries! Yang your turn!"

"My name is Yang" the blonde girl said without much energy "I like my hair and doing exciting things."

Ruby looked rather underwhelmed, but pressed on to Blake "Blake your turn!"

The cat girl sighed "my names Blake and I enjoy reading and _silence_ "

Ruby didn't seem to take the hint "Solus your turn!"

Solus glared stonily at Ruby, why the hell would he demean himself like this? It was an absolute waste of time. "No!" he said sharply.

"Solus…" Ruby sighed "for me? Please?"

Why she wanted him to do this he would never know, what was the point? They were meant to fight together; they didn't need to know anything other than that. So this little game was pointless.

Solus didn't say anything; he just sat on his bed in stony silence. Besides he wasn't much of a talker anyway, especially when it came to his personal life, or lack there of.

"Solus" Ruby pleaded "come on, Blake and Yang did it, you can too."

Gods he hated it when she did that, that pleading tone. He hated how it actually made him want to comply with whatever she was asking, and worse still he hated how it usually worked too.

"Fine!" he spat "my name is Solus and I enjoy violence!"

There was a moment of silence, Solus words seemed to hang in the air for a moment. Ruby went to say something but was cut off when Blake spoke first "whats your real name?"

Immedently Ruby knew that this would end poorly; Solus wasn't much of a talker at the best of times. But this? Things like asking about his name or his past tended to make him angry or very depressed, usually both.

A chill ran up Blake's spine as Solus spoke "my real name? What makes 'Solus' anything less than real? It's the name I chose for myself. It's the name I identify with, it is what I am." He wasn't yelling, the words were spoken whisper quiet but they were laced with the silent threat of pain.

Ruby wisely stayed silent in the face of Solus' quiet anger, she'd seen him rage at things, she'd seen his moments of crippling depression when he thought no-one was looking. But she had never seen the cold and quite rage that oozed from his soul like it was now; it was a terrible thing to behold. And yet despite all that Ruby could sense the lingering guilt that was carefully veiled behind everything else, Yang and Blake probably didn't notice it because they didn't spend as much time with the man as Ruby did. But she could see it, a terrible ache of pity washed through Ruby as she thought about the merc.

But it seems that Blake didn't quite pick up on the same things Ruby did "we all know that 'Solus' isn't the name you were born with, why wont you tell us? It's not like your famous or anything."

Solus' single eye flashed dangerously as he glared at his faunas teammate "because it's my secret to tell, and if your so set on forcing my secrets out then I can force yours too _Lieutenant Blake Belladonna of the White Fang_."

There was a moment of stunned silence in the room, Yang and Ruby were beyond shocked, they didn't even know Blake was a faunas!

Blake tried to make a break for the door, but Solus leapt from his bed and tackled the girl to the ground, pinning her using his greater strength and weight. The girl struggled beneath him, but with little difficulty Solus neatly plucked the bow from atop her head, revealing her feline cat ears to the other occupants of the room.

Ruby was the first to recover from her shock "White Fang?" a slightly betrayed look crossed the younger girls face "Blake? Explain this!" her tone brokered no argument.

Blake ceased her struggles from beneath Solus; the smug bastard had the audacity to smirk. "I used to be part of the fang" she said "before they were… dismantled… by Argentum Mortem and the Red Lady."

Yangs brain finally caught up, a hurt look marring her features "you were part of a faunas terrorist organisation?"

"You don't understand!" Blake cried "I didn't want to hurt anyone, but the leadership… they told us it was the only way! I was born into the group and after fort Independence we… hardly survived, it wasn't my choice!"

"You were at fort Independence?" Ruby asked quietly.

Blake didn't notice but at some point Solus had gotten off her and moved back onto his bed, content to let things play out before him. Blake had started crying and curled up into a ball "yes, I was there, I saw what Mortem did. He's a monster, a demon."

"Oh Blake…" Ruby moved over and gave the cat faunas a hug "its okay, we're not mad. You are just a victim like everyone else that survived that terrible day."

Blake didn't say anything, she just sobbed into Ruby's shoulder. After a few moments Yang moved in and joined the hug, gripping her partner and sister tightly.

Solus saw the spectacle before him and snorted, he had been there too and you didn't see him crying like a weakling. Silently he rose from his position on his bed and moved towards the door, the only thing signalling his departure was the sound of the door closing and Ruby sighing.

* * *

Slowly Solus walked through the streets of downtown Vale; it was late in the night so there weren't many cars or people about. The merc had no particular destination in mind, he was just walking around and taking in the sights, Vale was a nice city compared to what he was used too.

He'd spent years drifting between the other three kingdoms, looking for the best paying jobs and wherever the most excitement was. But he had never lingered in his home Kingdom for more than a few days at a time, he didn't know why; it always just felt wrong for him to be here. Even during his time as Argentum Mortem he had refrained from going into Vale, even before his past memories came back it had felt wrong to be here.

But then Vacuo happened… and everything changed. He had spent years wandering the glass deserts he had helped create, years looking for Kira. When he found her… well, that's when he became whole again. After his time in those deserts he… chose a new name for himself, something to reflect what he was now.

He was the sole survivor.

He was Solus Superstes.

Blake shouldn't have pushed him like that, he had chosen his name, wasn't that good enough for her? She had chosen to appear human and he had been willing to let her keep that illusion, why couldn't she be content to let him keep his?

It wasn't fair, but really, life wasn't fair.

"Hey mister!"

The voice broke him out of his thoughts, shattering the calm atmosphere of the night with the high pitched whine.

With irritation clear across his features Solus turned to face whoever had spoken, he would give them a piece of his mind… oh. Whatever nasty comments that were on the tip of his tongue evaporated instantly upon seeing who had spoken.

It was a child.

She was a little slip of a thing, a fox faunas that was dressed in rags and had scuff marks all over her body and clothes. She was also as thin as a whip, not a trace of baby fat on her body anywhere. The girl looked to be 4 or 5 but Solus knew that malnourishment made children look younger than they were.

The chocolate brown eyes of the girl gazed hopefully into Solus' single dark blue eye; she held a small tin container in front of her, a few coins rattling within.

"Do you have any change to spare mister?" she said with poorly concealed hope.

A small part of him wanted to tell the girl to shove off, that he shouldn't wast his time with her. But the rest of him was filled with overwhelming empathy, she was on the edge. He could see all her bones sticking out awkwardly, a clear sign that she hadn't eaten in days. Pity filled his thoughts, mixed in with deep empathy; he understood the struggle she was facing.

She must have been put off by his silence, a painfully disappointed look crossed her small face and she began to move away. Despite himself Solus called out "wait!"

The turned to face him once more, the hope wasn't there; she looked ready to bolt at any moment. Solus was terrified that she'd run before he could give her money, she looked scared that he might do something, but he would fix that.

With slow deliberate motions so he didn't startle the girl he pulled his wallet out, it was getting rather fat with all the money Ozpin had been paying him to attend Beacon.

He withdrew all notes he had on him, a little over 500 lien in total. He wished he could do more, but the rest was back in the dorm room. He held the money out to the girl, his single eye all but pleading her to take it.

The girl looked shocked, startled, and so many other emotions "wha…? You…." No sentences formed, she was too surprised.

"Please take it" Solus begged.

Finally the girl seemed to find her words "why?" she asked with seriousness that seemed out of place on the child.

"…because I know what its like to go hungry, and spend the night in the cold." He said brokenly.

The girl took the money, and in a move that shocked Solus to the core, she leapt up and gave him a hug with all her might. "Thank you." She repeated over and over in his ear.

She reminded him of someone else, a long time ago, a different child, a different lifetime.

 _Wind howled, hot air blasted across his face. With the utmost care and delicacy he adjusted the small weight in his hands, shielding it from the wind and the glass._

 _It was a child._

 _He had found the girl hours ago, a large shard of glass embedded in her chest and bleeding out on the ground underneath the harsh desert sun. it had taken him only a glance to say that her wound was mortal, the glass was too deep, collapsing a lung and spewing blood everywhere._

 _His initial thoughts had been to put the girl out of her misery, to end the terrible pain she must be feeling. But then she opened her eyes to look at him, his terribly scarred form had shuddered with familiarity upon seeing her deep blue eyes that were so similar to his own._

 _They reminded him of his family, his real family, the arcs. They were so blue… but constantly clouded with untold pain._

"You should just let her go, kill her…" _the terrible synthetic voice commanded in his mind._

 _He didn't say anything, the child had caused both horrible pain and pale hope to sear through his shattered mind. She looked… so much like an Arc, so much like his… sister…_

"You don't deserve a sister!" _the childlike voice roared_ "you killed her! And you're a stain on the Arc family"

 _The child in his arms shifted and moaned, her deep blue eyes glassy with pain. The wanderer didn't know what to do, he had removed the glass and bandaged the wound but she was still bleeding. Still dying._

" _shhh i-its okay" he whispered through his cracked and parched lips._

 _The girl was delirious with pain; her unfocussed eyes shifted around rapidly but didn't settle on anything. The wanderers heart clenched in pain for the girl, why had this happened to her? She didn't deserve this._

" _im-" a thick wet cough "im dying" the girl said with seriousness beyond her age._

 _The wanderer felt her little body shudder in his arms "n-no!" he cried "You'll be f-fine."_

 _A small trickle of blood oozed out of the corner of the girls' mouth and onto the wanderers clothes, staining the material red. "Whats your name?" the girl whispered with pain laced words._

 _The battered and weary soul that carried the girl stilled, dread filling every pore of his being._

"you are Argentum Mortem!" _the synthetic voice screeched._

"no! you are Jaune Arc!" _the younger voice cried._

" _i-im just a wanderer" the boy finally lied._

 _The girl was fading fast, the life oozing from her form. But despite this she shook her head strongly and asked "w-whats your real name?"_

 _The effort must have been to great, her eyes closed and the life finally left the tortured girl. Tears of blood began to poor out of her eyes and a steady trickle of the red liquid oozed out her mouth, she had finally passed on._

 _The wanderer felt the tears escape his singular eye "im-im J-Jaune"_

 _A full blown wail escaped the wanderer, the voices screamed in his mind, but he didn't care._

 _He had failed again, he couldn't save this girl, so how could he hope to save Kira? This girl… she was everything he wasn't, pure, whole, and singular._

 _he cremated the body, the ashes were scattered in the wind._

 **A/N**

 **So can anyone tell me what today is? That's right! Its my birthday! Im really old now haha.**

 **That aside, lets talk about what happened this chapter.**

 **Finally we have some scale to measure how powerful Mortem is, and that he's not just an all powerful god. So now you all know that Mortem is roughly Ozpins level of power, if not a fraction weaker.**

 **So im guessing that not many of you actually realised that none of the others knew Blake was a faunas let alone she was part of the White Fang. But Solus really is an ass isn't he? Letting it out like that… oh well I can't say I blame him.**

 **Onto reviews:**

 **Pyro daemona:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **I can understand the humour of voting for alcohol, but im still flabbergasted that its so popular.**

 **THE L0NE WANDERER:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Turtle pace indeed.  
Sadly the plot won't allow for Salem to make an appearance, as for the dragon, well... you'll see. Cinder's end game will be rather… messy so don't worry to much about the lack of Salem.**

 **Raven kight:  
** **Thanks for reviewing.  
HA maybe your right! Im still baffled how those two have any votes...**

 **Smithrooks:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Yeah, is it sad that Solus 'likes' Ruby the most? She is an annoying 15 year old girl by all means; sometimes i can't help but pity Solus.  
to her credit though Ruby is honestly trying to get them to work together as a team, even if things aren't going to well.**

 **Wagner:**

 **Pride is a powerful thing, but not always bad. Pride can be very useful for righteous anger, but pride can also be blinding. Weiss is not blind to her weakness's and to her credit she is always trying to better herself.**

 **Triviest:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
I don't hate Weiss either, i can respect that she is constantly trying to better herself but i admit i find her attitude... grating. But you are totally right, she just isn't a good fit for Solus.  
I always loved stories that didnt give everything away in the first few chapters, i adore authors that can make you look at the entire narrative differently by the time you finish it. that's kind of what im going for with this, when i finish arc 3 perspective will change greatly, characters thought "evil" i hope you will feel nothing but pity for.  
Will the others find out? Yes, but i daresay they will have more pressing things on their minds.**

 **thelastcenturion2015:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Not really, but now that you mention it i am pleased by the reference.**

 **dudebladeX** :

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Yeah well, Solus sadly isn't much of the joking type...  
Thanks for pointing out the error, it has since been corrected.  
And yeah, im torn between being terribly amused or disappointed by how high in the ranking Alcohol is...**

* * *

 **Okay, lets move onto the poll:**

 **1** **st** **is Ruby with 25 votes.**

 **2** **nd** **is Raven (but she's d- wait you don't know that yet. Whoops) with 14 votes.**

 **3** **rd** **is… alcohol (really guys?) with 12 votes.**

 **4** **th** **is Cinder (beaten by a liquid…) with 10 votes.**

 **5** **th** **is Yang with 9 votes.**

 **6** **th** **is Pyrrha with 7 votes.**

 **7** **th** **is Velvet with 6 votes.**

 **Tied of 8** **th** **are Blake and professor Goodwitch both having 5 votes.**

 **Tied for 9** **th** **are Kira (still dead) and Nora (if you vote for Nora you disappoint me) with 4 votes each.**

 **10** **th** **is Summer (still dead) with 3 votes.**

 **11** **th** **is Coco with 2 votes.**

 **And coming in dead last is Weiss with 1 vote.**

* * *

 **Anyway don't for get to leave a review!**


	32. Kinslayer

Edge of Life

Chapter Thirty One

Kinslayer

 _Something was different._

 _13 stood in the arena, across from him stood subject 14. The elder subject looked similar to him in many ways, she had the same blonde hair as he, the thick golden locks stood in strong contrast with the standard steel grey uniform that all the subjects wore. She also had thick blue eyes that mirrored his own but at the same time seemed so alien to him._

 _13 had fought in the arena before, the lifeless bodies of subjects 18 and 46 could attest to that. But it felt different this time, the holographic projection of the director seemed more… alive, excited almost._

 _13 had never seen the director like this before, he'd seen him pleased about things but never like this._

" _My dear subjects 13 and 14, both of you have proven your might this far, proven your will to live. But only one of you may exit the arena today, remember: Survival, no matter the cost." With those final words the image of the director flickered out and the subjects were left alone in the circular chamber._

 _The other subjects would be watching of course, there were benches set up behind protective screens in the upper half of the arena. All darkened of course, so the the combatants didn't get distracted at all during the fight._

 _13 looked at 14 carefully, the slightly older subject was one of the few 'tanks' designated by the director. Meaning that she would be extremely good at taking damage and have a extreme amount of stamina compared to him and the other 'Achilles' class subjects._

 _You see the subjects were divided into different sub categories, the tank class were trained to use a sword, spear and shield combination and were conditioned to withstand extreme amounts of pain. This was good but they were good at little else, beyond just killing whatever stood before them they were useless unlike all the other categories. The Achilles class was what 13 was, they were trained to be the jack of all trades in regards to all the directors teachings, able to use any of the many tools the director employed and capable of more than just killing like a brute. The next class was the assassin type, these subjects were taught extreme stealth and used the lightning fast wrist blades to fight, these subjects were very slippery and tended to fight more using raw wit than brawn. And finally there were the mimic subjects, these subjects weren't actually taught to fight at all, but they were used by the director as spies and were able to imitate anyone within reason._

 _13 really didn't like the idea of fighting a tank class in a head to head battle, they were absolute killing machines and spent all their time just learning how to maim and destroy whatever stood in their way. And 14 was one of the worst, all the other fights she'd been in she hadn't just won, no 14 had been ruthless in her efforts to annihilate her opponents._

 _13 held his weapons close to his sides, being a Achilles he was taught all the different weapons the subjects could learn, so he had chosen for this fight to mirror 14 and use a Mistrali hoplon shield as well as a spear and sword. The sword was safely tucked into a magnetic bar on the inside of the shield, and his simple metal spear was held loosely in his hand._

" _You will die here 13, and your number will forever be shamed among the other subjects."_

 _14 brought her own spear to bear in her right hand, closing the gap between the two in an instant her spear shot forwards to his neck but 13 pulled his body out of the way to avoid the attack. 14 quickly amended this though and stuck her own hoplon shield against his to stagger him slightly, it had the intended effect and 14 rushed to use her momentary advantage with a strong downwards stab with her spear._

 _13 managed to block the strike with his own shield but he staggered back even more, but he quickly regained his balance and moved his hoplon to block 14s next attack. She lunged forwards with a downwards stab that 13 blocked but she kept her momentum going strong and pushed the attack with multiple stabs and thrusts with her spear._

 _13 countered with a few of his own but they were lackluster compared to the flurry of steel that 14 was. But 13 finally had a stroke of good luck when he was able to catch her spear with his own and lock it under his armpit, leaving his own spear pointed towards the ceiling and unable to be used properly._

 _14 was undeterred by this however, with strength that belied her frame she swung her shield around and hacked off the end of 13s upraised spear, leaving it little more than a short metal pole now._

 _The surprise was enough to get 13 to loosen his grip slightly, 14 used that to her advantage at took the opportunity and gave him a strong shield bash that sent him staggering backwards. Again 14 used her advantage and followed her opponent and attacked with a flurry of stabs, but 13 didn't draw his sword, instead he bashed the spear away using his shield and a slight boost from his semblance._

 _With his now greater strength 13 forced her spear to the ground and with a harsh stomp broke the metal rod in half. 13 tried to press his advantage and drew his sword and attacked to the throat in one vicious movement, but 14 pulled her head out of the way from the kill blow. 13 kept up the attack however with many swipes and slashes of his blade, but he was too slow to keep up with the slightly older subject, she drew her own sword and began countering all his attacks with greater speed and skill._

 _Both subjects knew that 13 had the advantage in terms of raw strength but both subjects were equally aware that 13 was less skilled in this type of combat, and thus was beginning to lose ground and momentum._

 _With one final swipe of her sword 14 caused 13s shield to spin out of his hands and crash into the edge of the arena, but 14 didn't quite end her assault there, using the momentum to her advantage to boost her strength 14 landed a heavy kick to 13s chest that sent him in the opposite direction of his shield and tumbling to the ground._

 _Rather than press her advantage 14 spoke harshly "get up 13, i won't have my victory taken from me by gravity."_

 _13 was no fool however, as 14 was speaking he scrambled on the ground and picked up the broken head of the spear he had used before. In his own mind this was totally justified because 14 was being a fool by wasting the chance to finish the fight now, he would show her not to treat him lightly._

 _As sweat was pouring off his young body but that didn't matter, as soon as 14 was close enough 13 leapt to his feet with great agility and swiped at his opponent with his sword and the half spear. The attack came as a complete surprise and the dual blow connected with 14s chest and despite her aura left two thin red lines from her right hip to her left shoulder._

 _14 leapt backwards and let out a hiss of pain at the injury, but she didn't look particularly pained or worried. If anything she looked excited._

 _Ignoring his rising fatigue 13 rushed 14 with a slight semblance enhanced boost to his speed to aid him, with his two weapons he unleashed a flurry of attacks, each aiming to inflict a mortal wound on his fellow subject._

 _But despite her bleeding chest 14 was still a force to be reckoned with, she matched him blow for blow with her own hail of lethal strikes. None of the vicious attacks landed on their intended targets but both subjects received a plethora of smaller injuries such as cuts and bruises._

 _Unfortunately 13 just couldn't keep up the constant use of his semblance, the fatigue was catching up to him and he was panting and sweating buckets. 14 was in no such dilemma however, she was able to continue the blistering pace and even began to outpace 13 as he began to slow down._

 _Her own shield long forgotten and discarded 14 caught 13s left hand mid strike and was able to snatch the half spear from his weakening grip, with her other hand she attempted to stab him in the gut but at the last moment he was able to pull back and out of harm's way._

 _But 14 wasn't done, she pressed the attack and came at her opponent with a flurry of spinning attacks, 13 tried in vain to raise his sword to defend himself but it was to no avail._

 _With a shout of manic joy and exhilaration 14 plunged the half spear into 13s shoulder, the sharpened metal deeply embedding itself in the young boy._

 _13 cried out in pain and fell to his knees as the spear drove into his shoulder, he knew what was coming next and despite his current pain he activated his semblance in preparation for the 'kill blow'_

 _14 left the spear in 13 as she pulled her sword back into the perfect position to stab 13 in the heart "i win 13" she said as she plunged the blade into his chest._

 _Or attempted to anyway._

 _The blade bounced harmlessly off 13s chest with no damage caused whatsoever. By the looks of it 14 didn't quite understand what had happened, her blue eyes darted between her sword and his chest in a vain attempt to comprehend why 13 wasnt dead on the floor._

 _13 wasnt so idle though, with a vicious shout the boy swiped his sword upwards with all the force he could muster after using his semblance so strongly. 14s head snapped backwards as her jaw split in two and blood began to pour out of the deep cut that ran up her chest and through her face._

 _The older subject collapsed to the ground with a thud and the lights around the arena came back on, all the other subjects looked at 13 in silence and respect as he stood and pulled the half spear out of his shoulder with nary a grunt. The director's voice burned in his mind, "well done 13, she was weak and you showed her your strength"_

 _A feeling of absolute euphoria came over 13 as the director finished speaking, a wonderful feeling that bore no description and fed his senses with a joy unlike any other feeling._

 _It was wonderful._

 _But all too soon it passed, and 13 began to make his way out of the bloodied chamber. Just as he was passing the doors that led out of the arena he was stopped however, he didn't recognize the subject that stopped him, but he could tell just at a glance that she was an assassin and very dangerous._

" _Your fight was impressive" she said in a deceptively complementary tone._

 _13 was no fool, he knew that for this subject to pull him aside to speak to him she must want something, the question was what exactly. 13 made a sound that vaguely sounded like agreement but refrained from saying anything else, instead he looked intently into her pale lavender eyes._

" _I was thinking that you and i could work on our fighting techniques sometime" the raven haired girl said with a cunning glint in her eye._

 _She wanted to fight him? The fool, he had just proven his might. But he could abide by the girl if it meant more chances to gain the power he so desperately craved "yes" he said flatly "some other time."_

 _A false smile came over her face as she responded "thank you, it was a pleasure meeting you subject 13"_

 _With that she moved away, but just before she left 13 glanced at the number on her clothes "and you as well subject 8."  
_

Solus looked at the girl before him, staring at her with a look that would make most people want to vacate his presence hastily and never return.

But Pyrrha Nikos was not like most people.

The stupid girl had seemingly appeared from nowhere and began speaking to Solus incessantly and blathering on about subjects that he cared very little for, after almost half an hour she had finally seemed to run out of other things to speak about so she had reverted to speaking about something all hunters could relate to: weapons.

Solus couldn't look at her red and gold weapons without remembering the fights he had fought as a child, he remembered the struggle he felt trying to learn to use a sword, the pain he felt when he got something wrong. Those were times that were… best left forgotten.

Words didn't describe how little Solus cared about what the girl was saying, he disliked her choice in weapons on principle because they were the same as what the director made his 'tanks' use and Solus hated the director for what he had done.

Couldn't Pyrrha see that he wanted to be alone right now? He had just gotten back from Vale and the encounter with the little girl had really shaken him. Even now his mind was in turmoil and his hands wouldn't stop shaking. He was harshly gripping his trousers so the annoying red head couldn't see it but he knew it was there, he hated how weak it made him feel.

Perhaps a cigarette would calm him down? He reached for his slightly crumpled pack and began fumbling around for one of his precious death sticks.

"You shouldn't smoke you know" Pyrrha said with full confidence.

Solus ignored her in favour of taking a deep drag of the tobacco filled drug, her opinion didn't matter to him.

"Solus… your hands are shaking" she said upon finally noticing.

So what if they were? Smoking was the only way he could end himself, the director's words had poisoned him to much for any other method to work.

Pyrrha started blabbering on about how bad smoking was and what it did but Solus wasn't listening, no something far more interesting had just come up.

His scroll just pinged with a message from Juniour.

Pyrrha became even less interesting in his mind, his single eye focussing on the first few words that Junior had sent him: _We have a new job for you_

Yes… this was just what he needed, a chance to just go kill something… well away from Ruby and the others.

 **A/N**

 **I'm terribly sorry about the late update and the short chapter, but i was very busy this week and just spent the entire weekend at a karate camp.**

 **Moving on from my whining does anyone know who subject 14 was? I would think it's pretty obvious but hey, you never know with some people.**

 **I really appreciate the feedback i got from last chapter, as well as those that wished me a happy birthday. Thanks guys, your all the best.**

 **Onto the reviews:**

 **Chronical199:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Thanks for being so complimentary, you actually made me blush a little haha.**

 **But in all seriousness i do try my hardest with this and i put my all into trying to make the fights realistic as possible.**

 **Thanks again mate :)**

 **Smithrooks:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **With the flashbacks i know it's a bit of an info dump each chapter but i need the reader to get to a certain point of knowledge about Jaunes' life, that way when some of the aspects of the**

 **third arc come to light it will really have a big impact. To try and give some kind of hint take this: Arc 1 is the "Beacon" arc, arc 2 (our current arc) is "shattered", arc three is "revelations" and finally arc 4 will be "reconstruction".**

 **Yeah i thought that he dealt with Blake in a pretty fitting manner, and besides the others had to learn about Blake being a faunas eventually.**

 **As for power levels... well, among all the currently living characters (so everyone still alive as of the bar-fight in chapter 1) Ozpin ranks as a strong 2nd on the list, with Mortem being somewhere around 4th or 5th. Qrow is still strong enough to flatten Solus and all the other trainees but he just can't compete with some of the upper level fighters, so to give perspective think of it like this: Qrow is stronger than Goodwitch by about the same amount as Ozpin is stronger than Mortem.**

 **Guest (who i'm guessing is Wagner):**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Good and evil are a perspective and little more, what is good to me could be evil to you. Murder is wrong, but what if the victim was also a killer? Or guilty of some other heinous crime? That's adequate justification to condone murder for me. An eye for an eye my friend.**

 **Green Gustavo:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Yeah i was trying to show that Solus isn't a total a**, and that he still has some of Jaune left in him somewhere. I'll try to include more of this in the next few chapters.**

 **MrHoneyXBadger:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Wow this is easily one of the greatest compliments i have ever gotten, so thank you so much for being so kind.**

 **The American Wolf:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Not far, Arc two is drawing to a close and when arc three begins... well, most of arc three will be about his breaking point and what happens (or could happen haha hint hint) when he finally gets there.**

 **Nik41:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Haha i think just saying "dick move" explains most of what Mortems life was like haha.**

* * *

 **That aside lets take a look at the poll…**

 **1st is Ruby with 28 votes.**

 **2nd is… oh for f**ks sake… Alcohol with 15 votes…**

 **3rd is Raven (beaten by a liquid…) with 14 votes.**

 **Tied for 4th are Cinder and Yang (who i'm sure would be less than pleased at losing to a liquid) with 10 votes.**

 **Tied for 5th are Velvet and Pyrrha with 7 votes each.**

 **5th is Kira (still dead) with 6 Votes.**

 **6th is Blake and Goodwitch with 5 votes each.**

 **7th is Nora (still crazy) and Summer (still dead) with 4 votes each.**

 **8th is Coco with only 2 votes.**

 **And dead last 9th is Weiss with 1 vote.**

 **As always thanks for reading and please leave a review.**


	33. Beginning of the End

Edge of Life

Chapter Thirty Two

Beginning of the End

"Ruby"

The words broke her out of her quiet thoughts, she had been thinking about Solus and where he had run off to just after he dropped the White fang bomb about Blake. She had gotten a message from Pyrrha saying that she had seen and spoken to her wayward partner just as he was returning to Beacon, according to the spartan girl Solus had seemed 'rattled' and Ruby didn't want to know what could have 'rattled' her tough as nails partner.

"Ruby"

The girl in question turned to face the subject of her thoughts, Solus had seemingly appeared out of nowhere just as Ruby was leaving the dorm room to go look for him and try to bring him back.

"Solus?" Ruby questioned "where were you? Where did you go?"

He seemed… uneasy, constantly shifting his weight around and his single dark blue eye didn't meet her own inquisitive silver orbs.

"I… went out to Vale." he said as he lit a cigarette and took a deep drag of the poison smoke "listen Ruby, i have some business to do and it will take a few days." Ruby didn't miss the fact that his hands were shaking as he spoke, what could have gotten to him this badly?

"'Business'?" Ruby questioned cautiously "Solus last time you went out for 'business' you lost your…" she didn't want to say it, the harsh truth still scared her.

Solus took a moment to understand what she was getting at, he honestly didn't understand why she was so hesitant to speak about it. So what? He lost a leg, it was hardly the worst thing that had ever happened to him, all you need to do is look at his time in Vacuo to see that.

"It won't be like that" he retorted. "This is different, completely different" it wasn't of course, but it never hurt to bend the truth a little.

Ruby wasn't buying it though, she may be young but she wasn't stupid "Solus how is it different? You're going to leave then get hurt again"

"It's not going to go down like that" Solus said, dodging the question "i'll be fine, i'll leave tonight"

"Solus we both know that you and your… chosen profession… will never end well!" She was almost yelling by this point, why couldn't he see that doing jobs like this will just kill him in the end?

"And?!" Solus yelled back "what if i want it to?! Did you ever think of that?" His voice dropped to more of a hiss "what if that's what i want? What i don't want it to end well?"

Ruby couldn't believe what she was hearing, Solus _wanted_ his life to be like this? That was… words couldn't describe the horror that she felt at this new piece of information. What had happened to Solus to make him feel like he deserved this? Pity flooded her mind as she looked at the scarred form of Solus, maybe if she could just convince him that he was on the wrong path…

"Solus" Ruby said slowly with sorrow infused words "i know you've had a hard life-"

She was cut off when Solus gave a shout of rage the likes of which Ruby had never seen before "ENOUGH! I don't your sympathy! I don't want your sadness! And i don't want your goddamn fucking _PITY!"_

There was a moment of silence that seemed to stretch forever for Ruby, the lack of sound was so oppressive that the girl could actually hear both her own and Solus' heart beat. Her own sounded strong and didn't waver in the slightest. Solus however didn't share the same strength of body though, his heartbeat was erratic and jumped between beats, not quite making the same _thump thump thump_ sound that all hearts should.

"Solus…" Ruby didn't know what she could say "i-"

"No! You listen to me" Solus hissed with anger evident in his burning blue eye "my life has been beyond shitty, beyond terrible. But it's _mine_ , and i'm free to fuck it up as much as i want."

There was nothing Ruby could say, she had only been trying to help… how had it come to this? Solus was meant to be her partner, he was meant to be her friend…

"I'm going to go do my job, and you can't stop me" with that final statement Solus turned on his heel and walked quickly away from the girl in red.

Just before he left her sight Ruby called out "Solus! Please call us if you need help!"

She didn't know if he had heard her, he didn't acknowledge that she had said anything. Within moments he had turned a corner and was out of her eye sight.

"Damn it Solus…" Ruby muttered as she lamented her failure with her partner.

* * *

Solus sat at a private table in Juniors club, the music was pounding through the large room so strongly that he could see his drink quake with each thundering thump of the irritating techno crap that people called music.

The writhing mass of bodies on the dance floor were of no distraction to the merc, a few had approached him to bother him with their petty woes. But he didn't care, he wasn't cheap and if they couldn't pay then he wouldn't waste his time speaking to them.

In his hands he held a scroll tablet that Junior had let him use to see the details for his newest job. It was actually quite odd, it was a short video that had been sent to Junior that requested Solus specifically. That was odd because Solus didn't think he was notorious enough to be asked for specifically yet, he had received hundreds of requests weekly back when he was Mortem but as Solus Superstes he hadn't done anything truly noteworthy.

Currently Solus was waiting for a video connection to come through from his anonymous new employer, he didn't have to wait long, within moments the screen flashed into life to show a darkened room that Solus couldn't quite make out. A man with a shadowed face sat in the center of the screen and began speaking in a low and educated voice "Mr Superstes i have been waiting quite some time to meet you"

Solus didn't like this guy, the voice was oddly familiar but he couldn't quite place it. And the way he spoke was slightly unsettling, it was with such quiet cunning and intelligence that set Solus on edge "indeed" Solus said using his best manners despite his misgivings "you have a job for me?"

The shadowed man hummed in agreement then said "quite, you and two other operatives will rendezvous with you in the Ever-Winter Mountain range in Atlas to eliminate a rather troublesome group of rouge faunas that has taken root there"

Okay that was unexpected, an international job? Solus was willing to do it, but it would take a lot of money. "I don't usually work overseas, my rate would have to go up to complete this job." Almost as an afterthought Solus added "you understand i'm sure"

The man waved his dismissively "money is of no issue, i am transferring the first half of your payment to your account now"

Solus nodded and pulled out his scroll to check his bank account, the moment he opened the app for it his single remaining eye boggled and his brain fuzzed for a second just looking at the number. Previously his account had only held about 900 lien, but now it read 2500900.

"I trust that's satisfactory?" The shadowed man asked.

It took Solus a moment but eventually he replied with "yes, that'll do" He hadn't had this kind of money in years, not since he had been Mortem "i'll be there with 72 hours, i'll be expecting your other operatives when i arrive"

"Agreed, if anything changes i'll contact you" with those final words the connection cut out and Solus was left looking at the blank scroll tablet.

Solus didn't know what to make of any of that, with that amount of money they could have hired a S class hunter to do the job. And why did they want him specifically? As far as the world was concerned he was just some nobody, so how the hell did they even _hear_ about him?

Better question, who were they? The transmission didn't show anything that would give away their identity, and Solus was really curious now so he decided to do some digging. There were few things that Solus was _really_ good at but hacking was one of them, so with a slightly creased brow the merc set to work breaking past firewalls and slipping through the history of the call and following the connection back to… Atlas.

The signal came from the cobalt arms company in Atlas, Solus recognized the name Cobalt but he couldn't quite remember where from. A quick internet search jogged his memory however, the Cobalt arms company, formerly owned by the Cobalt family until they married into the Schnee family before being brutally murdered by Argentum Mortem along with another 56 people at the 'white massacre'.

Solus remembered, as much as he didn't want to. As much as he wished that he finished the job that day he still regretted that were so many others that died that day, he had only wanted to remove the stain on humanity called the Schnee family.

But the fact that it was the CAC (Cobalt arms company) that had contacted him specifically could only mean one thing: the remains of the Schnee family had found out who he was.

Okay… what to do… it was obviously a trap to capture him, so he could just run, never turn up. Take his money and go start again somewhere else, become someone else. Or he could try turn this trap around, use it to get to Shirou Schnee and kill the bastard like he had tried to do so many years ago…

Yes… finally he would have his revenge, he would finally find his absolution.

Mind made up Solus confidently walked out of the club and towards the nearest military checkpoint in the city. He would need something with far more firepower than he currently had, something… explosive.

He wished Kira was still alive, she was a force to reckoned with. He would get back at the Schnee's for taking her from him.

Solus couldn't help but let his mind wander to when he had last seen Kira alive, so long ago…

 _Argentum Mortem was just having a lazy day hanging around the Director's facility, he wasn't wearing his armour, instead he was just wearing a plain red t-shirt and some grey shorts._

 _The reason he wasn't out and about was because he had a big job for the SDC coming up in a few days and he wanted to be at his best for it. He always liked the jobs the SDC gave him, the pay was great and he generally had a good time because all their missions tended to involve wanton murder and dismemberment._

 _Currently Mortem was just dozing on a rather comfortable couch he had acquired from a high end Mistralli shop that Kira had liked. The young merc was snapped out of his lucid thoughts when he felt a gentle poke in his side, his duel blue eyes flickered to the source of the poke._

 _Kira stood above him with a gentle smile on her face as she looked down on him "get up you lazy bum"_

 _Mortem was about to reply when he noticed the dark bruise that coloured the left side of Kira's jaw, Mortem knew she had just gotten back from a job, but who on Remnant aside from him could actually_ _hurt_ _her?_

" _Kira? What happened to your jaw? Tell me who did it so i can go dismember them" such was the affection between the two._

 _A small melodic laugh bubbled from Kira's mouth before she said "come on, let's go to the arena and i'll show you"_

 _The way she said it would imply that she wanted him to move, but apparently that wasn't the case. Just as Mortem began to push himself up Kira grabbed him under the armpits and lifted him up to her face level with her overwhelming strength. Before he could complain at being lifted like that she placed a gentle kiss on his lips, a kiss that he eagerly returned._

 _But the moment soon passed when she pulled away, and with a slight squawk of protest from him, tossed the younger teen over her shoulder and began walking towards the arena._

 _Mortem knew she must have been in a good mood, Kira was only that affectionate when she was pleased about something… or when she was 'in the mood' so to speak._

 _Either way Mortem was happy._

 _With a slight plop Kira set the boy down on one of the benches above the arena before sitting down herself. The holo projection equipment in the arena started up and the entire scene changed to a small village on the edge of a average looking forest._

 _The holographic version of Kira was walking calmly down the dirt road in her pale white priest robes, her hands clasped together as if in prayer. But Mortem knew better, Kira didn't care a whit for any foolish religion, priests just made for a good disguise._

 _Just before entering the village proper Kira was stopped by a woman wearing a nevermore mask and midnight black hair. The woman looked like she could be white fang but there weren't any obvious faunas traits such as horns or extra ears. The strange woman pulled a long red sword from her hip and held it threateningly to Kira before saying "stop right there, you are not welcome here. Leave now"_

 _Kira, with her head still bowed and her hands together said "i am but a humble priest, i come here to-"_

 _The other woman cut her short "we both know you're not a priest, you come here just to cause misery and pain."_

 _Kira dropped all pretenses "if you know why i'm here you know who i am, and you cannot hope to stand against me"_

" _We'll see" the woman said shortly before she charged Kira with an amazing burst of speed, her sword ready to vertically bisect the teen._

 _But the woman never even got close, with a telekinetic blast Kira send her flying backwards. Then something strange happened, the woman vanished into a red portal that suddenly appeared. Unseen behind her hood Kira's eyes darted around to try and detect where the woman went, just in the nick of time she heard a whoosh of displaced air behind her and she side-stepped the sword the was set on impaling her._

 _Kira turned just in time to see the red portal close behind her, and to see the bird woman turn her blade into a horizontal slash ready to split her in half._

 _This time Kira didn't dodge, with her right hand she caught the blade firmly and prevented the woman from pulling back. She flicked her left hand and a glistening silver wrist blade shot out, she slashed at her attacker's throat but was hardly surprised when the older woman pulled her head back to avoid the kill blow._

 _Before the woman could do anything else Kira reached out with her semblance at began crushing the life out of the older woman. For a moment it looked like it was working too, but the bird woman gave a strong flair of her aura that negated the effects and released her from Kira's mental hold._

 _Kira was undeterred however, with her semblance she reached out and grabbed a large boulder that was wedged in the ground nearby. She neatly plucked the rock from the ground and hurled it at the masked woman at an angle so it wouldn't be able to hit Kira._

 _The older woman was caught off guard and the boulder smashed into her side and sent her tumbling to the ground about 5 meters away, leaving her long red sword in Kira's left hand._

 _KIra grasped the sword in her other hand as well, and with a very slight grunt of exertion snapped the blade in half, rendering it almost useless "my my you are a league above those i usually have to fight, but it won't help you. i am the Red Lady, i will live forever."_

 _The masked woman didn't say anything, instead she lashed out in a flying kick that Kira deftly dodged. As the masked woman sailed past however something happened that Kira didn't expect, suddenly a flash of red appeared and the the woman kicked her in the side of the face with force that surprised her._

 _Granted it was only enough to turn her head slightly to the side, but it still took her by surprise._

 _The lack of a reaction took the masked woman by surprise, as she tumbled to the ground and landed on her ass. Before she could do anything else however Kira telekinetically grabbed the boulder again and smashed it into the woman's masked face. The effect was a yelp of pain and the sound of the mask shattering into a million peices._

 _Kira took a moment to admire the gorgeous red eyes her opponent had before a blade shot out of her right shoe, with the bladed boot the assassin kicked the older woman in the gut with all her might sending her rolling across the ground bleeding profusely._

 _The older woman came to a stop on her back, her hands pressed the whole in her gut in a attempt to stem the blood flow. But Kira wasn't done, with slow steps she walked to stand over the unmasked woman. With her mind she held the boulder over the fallen woman's face, ready to crush her skull and splatter her brains._

" _Well it's been fun" Kira said boredly "but i really need to get back to my dear Argentum, it's his day off you see."_

 _Kira shot the boulder downwards with great force but was taken by surprise when it disappeared in a flash of red and reappeared with the same momentum beside her face._

 _The rock crashed into her and shattered, Kira only staggered however. The force was huge but the upgrades she had received protected her from most damage, she was however greatly annoyed._

 _When Kira's eyes locked back onto the woman it was only to see her moments away from crawling into another portal and no doubt escaping the certain death. Kira wasn't feeling very merciful at this point however, she reached out with her semblance again and pulled the defeated woman away from the portal. Keeping her hold on the woman Kira began telekinetically choking her to death, the older woman didn't have enough aura to escape like she did last time, so all she could do was claw at her throat in a vain attempt to escape._

 _Not that it mattered._

 _After a few moments the struggling ceased and Kira felt the life force of her opponent finally snuff out._

 _The holograms fizzled out to show the empty arena once more, but neither of the spectators really noticed at this point, they were to busy exploring each others bodys, lost to their own lust._

 **A/N**

 **So i'm sure that all of you by now have worked out that it was Raven that Kira just killed, and sadly Yang is unaware of her mother's death. So getting closure on that may be slightly… difficult.**

 **What did you guys think of Raven's death? Too soon? Mean of me? Well it was sadly required for the plot, poor Raven. And what did you guys think of the conversation Solus had with papa Schnee? And the small revelation about the 'white massacre'? Messy business.**

 **Now this is important so read carefully.**

 **Next chapter is the final for the second arc, meaning this is also going to be the final week to vote it the poll because i'm closing it when i post the next chapter. And like the end of arc 1 there will be a 2 week break between arcs ok?**

 **Ok now thats out of the way lets check out reviews:**

 **Gusbot3000:**

 **Thanks for reviewing,**

 **Thanks mate, i try to make the flashbacks as interesting as possible. And don't worry, things are beginning to unravel for Solus and people are noticing. Things are coming to a point of divergence, and that is very important.**

 **Wagner:  
** **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **My personal understanding of things has taught me that life is a competition and, frankly, you have to play to win.**

 **Chronical199:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Thanks mate, acting like a teacher is fine because i always want to improve my writing.**

 **Yeah i wanted a different type of story than the usual RWBY humor and fluff and... yeah, everything kind of just went from there. I've always loved those stories where by the end your perspective is so radically different to when you started that it almost seems like a different story altogether.**

 **Thanks for the amazing compliments friend.**

 **Raven kight:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Haha i have indeed read that, but while i was terribly amused i don't think i could get something quite as funny for my story.**

 **Smithrooks:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Yes, the director picked up another Arc as well, and at the time 13 didn't know they were related but currently... well it's just another sin he has to make up for. One among many.**

 **Yeah it's not Mortem, not directly anyway. As for it being Jaune... well again not directly but the power seen in chapter 6 will play a major part in arc 3 and the secondary antagonist for the rest of the story.**

 **As for Cinder i won't spoil anything, but i will say this: "Wilted Roses will burn, and not even Cinders will remain."**

 **Yes Pyrrha just saw Solus getting back to Beacon and tried to strike up a conversation, and yeah it was her weapons that brought on the flash back.**

 **always a pleasure.**

* * *

 **Now onto the poll:**

 **1st is Ruby with 28 votes.**

 **2nd is Alcohol with 16 votes…**

 **3rd is Raven (dead) with 14 votes.**

 **4th is Yang with 12 votes**

 **5th is Cinder with 10 votes.**

 **Tied for 6th are Velvet and Pyrrha with 7 votes each.**

 **7th is Kira (still dead) with 6 Votes.**

 **8th is Blake and Goodwitch with 5 votes each.**

 **9th is Nora (still crazy) and Summer (still dead) with 4 votes each.**

 **And tied for 10th are Coco and Weiss both ladies having 2 votes.**

* * *

 **REMEMBER this is your final week to vote, so if you haven't then go do it now.**

 **As always please leave a review.**


	34. Rise and Fall

Edge of life

Chapter Thirty Three

Rise and Fall

The trap was set.

It had taken quite a bit of effort to get everything set up exactly how Solus needed it to be, with the frankly shitty time-frame that he had Solus thought he had done rather well in turning this particular valley into a snowy death trap.

The merc had also stopped by the directors facility and injected himself with just a few drops of the extremely powerful drug the Director had created for his subjects use, it was called 'venom' and as the name implied it was super poisonous if used incorrectly. The effects of the drug were quite noticeable as for a short time it dramatically increased all bodily aspects of the user, as it was now Solus could probably stand a decent chance at winning an arm wrestle with his power armour.

Unfortunately Solus couldn't have more than a few drops of the volatile drug at a time, the reason for this was because the drug put a massive strain on the heart. Any more than a few drops and his heart would likely explode and he would die instantly.

And he couldn't let that happen, despite how much he may want it.

Currently Solus was situated between two of the largest mountains in the Ever Winter mountain range northern Atlas, like the name suggested it was constantly below freezing here, the highest recorded temperature in this part of the world was about -10 Celsius. The lowest temperature was -87 Celsius, at the moment though it was a cosy -32 and there was a light drizzle of snow coming down.

The valley was the perfect place for Solus to launch his attack, the only way to gain entrance by land was through a narrow crevasse between two towering ice walls. And at the other end of the valley was a sheer cliff that would kill anything that fell down there, so it was basically a V shape.

The 'operatives' that were coming were no doubt privately owned hunters or even artificial monsters like what he had seen in Vacuo and more recently Vale, so Solus had spared no expense when he was getting all he would need for this undertaking. His wallet was a great deal lighter but that was fairly irrelevant considering the amount of money he had been given just to get here.

The whir of a vehicle broke Solus out of his thoughts, a white coloured armoured jeep just came out of the only land entrance to the valley, the vehicle was hardly a car and more resembled a tank but Solus was undeterred.

Within moments the first stage of the trap commenced, several white camouflage spikes sprung out through the snow they were buried in and speared the jeeps wheels, bursting the tires and rolling the car through the icy snow. One of the occupants, presumably the driver, was thrown through the windscreen and onto the snow, Solus couldn't help but notice something was wrong… being thrown through the air like that should have dazed a person more, but this guy looked around franticly and began reaching for a nearby rifle that must have been thrown clear with him.

Solus didn't give the guy a chance though, despite the thick camouflaged snow suit he was wearing Solus was on the down man in an instant, stomping his arm into the snow Solus was about to speak when he noticed what the man was wearing.

Power armour.

Granted it was a cheap knock off by the looks of it, the hydraulics and wires were still visible in some places as well. The whole set couldn't hold a candle compared to the armour Solus had used as Argentum Mortem, but the contraption doubtlessly still provide an immense boost to the power of the user. Solus was suddenly very glad that he had set up so many traps in the valley, this wouldn't be easy. "Tell where Shirou Schnee is!" Solus barked as he jammed the barrel of his aged sniper rifle into the grey armoured man's unprotected face.

"Shirou Schnee? How would i know that!?" The man lied.

Solus grunted and said "wrong answer fucker, you-"

Before he could finish his threat the second operative, also wearing knock off power armour, tackled Solus from nowhere. The merc was sent flying and his gun slipped from his hands and fell into the snow, the second guy picked himself up out of the snow and charged at Solus with his fist swinging.

But Solus nimbly dodged the blow with a neat side step and punched the man on the back of his head forcing the attacker to the ground. But he was undeterred, he pushed himself up off the ground and charged at Solus once more, this time unleashing a flurry of powerful attacks that forced Solus onto the defensive. But just as Solus was about to be overwhelmed by the attacks he activated his semblance and forced his muscles to expand giving him greatly boosted strength.

With his semblance boosting his power Solus ignored the incoming strike to his gut in favour of viciously palm-heeling the SDC operative in the throat, the other man staggered but Solus offered no respite whatsoever. With both hands Solus grabbed the man's head and forced it down on to his knee, further staggering the man.

Again the operative staggered but Solus was having none of it, the merc harshly did a strong spinning kick that sent the other man flying into the snow quite some distance away.

Solus was feeling more alive than he had in years, he could feel the venom running through his system and boosting his natural power greatly. The feeling was almost euphoric, the adrenaline was so high that he felt like he could do anything, he felt like his power was endless and that nothing could stop him.

But despite that feeling Solus didn't lose control of himself in the slightest, his shattered mind was like a fortress and clamped down on the errant emotions and want for violence. The huge urge he felt to go pummel his enemy was overshadowed by common sense demanding he stay at range where he had the advantage.

Before the operative could get his bearings Solus pulled a small detonator from his belt and clicked the small red button, there wasn't a massive explosion instead there was a small detonation near his feet that sent a _massive_ spin-up minigun into his waiting hands.

The gun started spraying bullets within seconds, peppering the area in front of Solus with a hail of lead and dust rounds. The armoured target was very nimble despite his heavy armour however, even as Solus was tracing his with path with the mighty gun. The operative ducked behind a mound of solid ice, the mound began to crack and break the moment Solus focussed his fire. Despite his firm control over his actions and emotions Solus couldn't help but let the maniacal laugh escape his lips as he attempted to gun the bigger man down.

The massive gun clicked empty and Solus ditched the weapon in an instant by throwing it into the snow to be forgotten. The operative seized the chance and pulled a pistol from somewhere in his armour and began firing on Solus, but the merc dived towards where he dropped his sniper rifle earlier. He neatly plucked his weapon from the snow then took cover behind another mound of ice.

Solus shifted his gun into its assault rifle form, he only got a few shots off before he had to duck a attack from the first operative who was only now making a reappearance, the armoured man swung a large needle like device that something between a short sword and a syringe. The man made several more swipes with his curious weapon but with his drug enhanced power Solus battered the needle out of his hands and into the edge of the cliff.

The man frantically leapt after it and caught the tool just before it tumbled over the edge.

Solus was unable to avoid the tackle that came from the other guy though, both men tumbled through the now and wrestled each other for dominance. Solus was still clutching his gun in his right hand even as the man tried to wrest the weapon from his grip, a few bursts of lead escaped the weapon but Solus used it as a distraction to worm his fake leg up onto the other mans armoured chest. With a grunt the merc kicked out with all his strength and sent the bigger man soaring backwards into the snow about 10 meters away and near where the first man was.

Solus rolled backwards off the ground and jammed his rifle over his back making an X shape with his sword and his gun. The merc smirked as he pulled another detonator from his belt, both the armoured men looked at the device warily and spoke at the same time.

"Is that a-?"

"How did he-"

Whatever else they were going to say was cut off by the massive explosion behind them, the huge wall of the valley shattered into hundreds of massive pieces and began raining down on all three men. The two SDC operatives charged at Solus in both an effort to escape the falling ice and to re-engage him.

The man with the needle weapon reached the merc first, he swung a downwards stab at Solus but the freelancer smacked the weapon aside then kicked him in the knees, sending the armoured man face first into the snow and the needle weapon stabbing into the ground.

The other man leapt over his fallen comrade and swung a vicious downwards punch that clipped the top of Solus' head, the mercenary pushed backwards to avoid the next attack but was unable to gain his footing in time to really compensate properly.

The armoured man swiped the needle sword out of the ground and swiped at Solus across the chest, the merc was unable to dodge completely and the weapon tore through the front of his snowsuit and left a thin red line across his torso. Instantly he felt slightly woozy, the weapon must have been poisoned to cause such an effect.

But the effects of venom in his system were still far too powerful for him to be slowed down, his vision sharpened once more and in nick of time he dodged a huge chunk of ice that crashed down right where he had been standing. The first man kicked the huge slab of ice at him at hit slid towards Solus with great speed.

But Solus nimbly jumped onto the ice, the small victory was short lived however as another huge slab fell onto the other side of the chunk Solus was standing on sending him catapulting into the air. The mercenary pulled his rifle off his back and into firing position, as he soared through the air he sprayed lead at his attackers.

Some of the round connected with their targets but most went wide, Solus was was ready for this however. As he was landing the merc rolled out of the way of another icy pillar that crashed into the ground, but before it could topple over Solus punched it with all his semblance and drug enhanced might. The huge slab of ice rocketed towards the man with the needle sword and clipped him on the top of his head when he tried to dodge, sending him sprawling into the snow.

The second man used another slab of ice as a catapult and launched himself into the air towards Solus. The merc responded by leaping with a semblance enhanced leap and caught the man midair before he could reach the arc of his flight.

Using the bigger man's momentum against him Solus caught him around the jaw and with his other hand around the operatives leg, basicly ragdolling him over Solus' shoulders.

With gravity aiding him Solus pulled down hard on the man as they landed, the only thing that prevented the man's spine from shattering was the armour he was wearing, but Solus wasn't done he released the man and before he could hit the ground kicked him harshly in the back and sent him tumbling through the snow.

The man with the needle sword appeared from behind a snow dune and using a pistol shot at Solus several times. Most of the shots connected, draining his aura but not actually hurting the merc yet. In haste to escape the shots Solus rolled behind a mound of ice, he only had to glance out from behind his cover to know what he would do next.

The freelancer kept his back to his cover and lashed out in front of him with his gauntlets shattering the ice shelf they all stood on, making it detach from the rest of the valley and begin falling into the chasm below.

As soon and he felt the ice he stood on begin falling Solus bolted towards the edge and leapt towards the stable ground. But the SDC operatives weren't finished yet, the one with the needle sword and the pistol shot at Solus as he was in the air and unable to dodge. The shot pierced through his tired aura and burrowed into his shoulder as he was in mid air, sending him crashing into the ground with blood leaking from his shoulder.

The operative with the wounded back called out frantically as he saw the ice shelf he and his comrade were on falling rapidly "oh my god RUN!"

Both operatives broke into a run towards the safe side of the ice shelf, but the man with the injured back couldn't move quickly. He was visibly staggering through the snow as he tried with all his might to move his legs. The other operative didn't share the same issue though, he ignored the cries to slow down from his partner and bolted away.

Just as he reached the edge he leapt as high as he could, but it still wasn't high enough. The ice shelf had fallen too far and he was unable to reach the top, but luckily for him he used the needle sword to jam it into the stable ice on the other side. He was safe but the other operative wasn't so lucky as he screamed profanities as he disappeared of the cliff entirely.

Solus was just staggering to his feet amidst the blood stained snow when the surviving operative charged him with a downwards swipe of the poison needle sword, despite the pain in his shoulder the freelancer used his wrist blades in a X block above his head. Quickly with his faltering strength he backhanded the armoured man across the face then with his injured limb gave a downwards slash that dug deeply into the armour but did little actual damage other than spin the bigger man around.

Using the momentum of his attacker against him Solus slid across the ice and cut another deep gouge through the armour through the stomach this time, the armoured man bent over in pain as the blade only just scraped his skin. But Solus didn't relent, with a grunt of exertion he swung his wrist blade around and drove it deeply into the un-armoured gap between the arm and back.

Despite the intense pain Solus felt he couldn't help but smirk in victory as the man bent down further.

But what the mercenary didn't realise is that the operative had pulled the pin from a grenade just as the blade drove into his shoulder. The shrapnel bomb went off with a mighty boom and sent both men flying in opposite directions, Solus tumbled through the snow and left a bloody red trail as he rolled. The operative was spared from the shrapnel due to his armour, but he still felt the concussive force of the explosion.

The scarred merc lay near motionless in the snow as blood leaked out of many small and large wounds littered across his body, it took him a few moments to come back to his senses but when he did he had only moments to react the the operative that was bearing down on him.

The SDC operative had recovered far more quickly than Solus and had moved to get to the merc while he was injured, so the man reached down and grasped the battered and bleeding bounty hunter by the throat fiercely and hauled him up to face level.

All Solus could do in the armoured man's grip was flail in a vain attempt to escape. But the effort was for naught when the operative plunged the needle sword into his gut.

Screams of pain bubbled out of Solus' mouth as he felt the poisoned sword in his stomach, he could feel the poison running through his system but before it took total hold of him the merc roughly fumbled around for his scroll and managed to press a small red button that had appeared on the screen.

But then the poison became too much, a almost comforting blackness overtook his vision and he knew no more.

* * *

Team RSYB were in their dorm, all of the girls were troubled over the disappearance of their only male teammate. Ruby had told them what happened and while Yang was mixed parts angry and upset and what Solus had said and done she couldn't help but feel a bubble of concern for the thick headed merc.

Not that she'd ever admit it Blake was also feeling some level of concern for her teammate, it wasn't because he was a nice guy or anything, no definitely not that. but because he treated her and other faunas as absolute equals, there was no discrimination at all. Blake could respect that he hated everyone equally.

Ruby had cooled down a bit and could see that something had been off about Solus when she had spoken to him, something had happened in Vale to set him on edge and the 'job' he mentioned had just come at a really bad time.

"Where could he have gone?" Blake asked "i don't really want to fight another Kraken to get him"

The sisters didn't laugh at the small joke, instead Yang said "the damn fool is going to get hurt again i just know it"

Ruby went to say something but was cut off when all their scrolls went off simultaneously indicating a new message, the girls all shared a glance at the odd timing of their scrolls but checked their messages anyway.

It was a video message from Solus, it was flashing with a urgent sign. Ruby looked at hers for a moment before saying "wait, i'll plug mine into the TV"

The other girls accepted this and allowed Ruby to Plug her device into the small television they shared. As soon as the connection was made the previously black screen burst into life and showed Solus standing in ankle deep snow surrounded by huge walls of ice and snow. The merc was wearing thick camouflaged thermal gear, he looked a little worse for wear but otherwise seemed fine.

"If you are getting this message that means something has gone wrong" he started with his eye not quite meeting the camera "as much as i hate to admit it i need help."

The three girls shared a worried glance "before i left i discovered that the mission i was hired for is a trap, the entire thing was engineered just to capture me. I believed i could handle it, turn the trap around… but if you're all getting this than that isn't the case"

Light snow began to fall around Solus as he continued "i really hate to admit it but i need you to come find me, i'll still be alive otherwise you'd be getting a different message. But i need you to go to my last known position, which will be enclosed at the bottom, and bring my stupid ass back to Vale. And Ruby? Im… sorry."

With the last word said the image fizzled out and left the screen just with a series of numbers, Solus' last known location according to latitude and longitude. It only took a moment for Blake and Yang to decipher the code and gasp in shock that their wayward teammate was near the polar regions in the far north of Atlas.

Ruby sighed deeply and thought about what to do next, she could go and try to save her partner but risk herself and her remaining teammates, or she could do nothing.

Within a fraction of a second the choice was clear, determination gleamed in her silver eyes as she stood to face her sister and friend "get your coats girls, because we're going to Atlas"

There was no room for argument in her voice, it was a order that brooked no question.

Blake stepped forwards "i'll work on getting us a bullhead"

Ruby nodded then turned to Yang "Yang get as much supplies as you can, we need to be fast"

The girls moved off to their respective tasks, they would save their teammate, and nothing would stop them.

* * *

 **Many years later**

A woman with silver eyes and a red cloak eyed the deep violet purple portal before her, her gaze was like steel. She stood with her back ramrod straight and didn't seem weighed down in the slightest from the mass of weapons she had on her person.

On her hands were shotgun gauntlets that had used to be a beautiful golden but now were little more than a sickly yellow worn by time. On her left hip sat two swords, one was in a gleaming silver sheath and had two yellow arcs on it. The other sword had a gleaming silver blade and thick red rim as well as a trigger on its handle.

On her right thigh a faded black cord was tightly wrapped around a extremely worn black pistol that was locked into a small blackish grey blade and cleaver. Sitting in the small of her back was a red collapsed scythe that had chips in its fading paint.

The only other person in the room was a thin pale girl with only one arm and a huge burn scar across the right side of her face, she had pure white hair and looked like she was very sick "the portal is open" she said weakly.

The other woman didn't say anything, just nodded silently.

There was a loud boom of thunder from outside the small room, the howls of the ever encroaching Grimm drew nearer. "Your sure this will work?" The woman in white asked.

The silver eyed woman nodded then finally said "he is the key... "

The crippled sighed but accepted it "very well then… it has been an honour Ruby"

The older and more scarred Ruby nodded "the pleasure is all mine Weiss"

No more words were said, the elder Ruby walked through the swirling violet portal. There was a thunderous crack as the vortex closed and Weiss was left alone.

An alpha beowolve burst through the steel door to the room, salivating hungrily when it saw the defenseless Weiss.

The elder Schnee girl only smirked at the beast though "it doesn't matter, for my death i save so many more"

The grimm lunged, and then Weiss was no more.

 **A/N**

 **And so ends the second arc of Edge of Life. as i mentioned last week there will be a 2 week break until i post the next chapter, sorry.**

 **So as per usual this chapter is as complicated and no doubt raised even more questions, don't worry all will be explained in the third arc when shit gets real.**

 **So i finally got to the part i hinted at way back in chapter** _ **False Immortality**_ **with all that binary, that was future Ruby and Weiss at the end there and something has happened to the other members of RSYB since future Ruby has all their weapons. Your theories and speculation would be greatly appreciated guys, i didn't get many reviews for last chapter so i'm really hoping a get plenty of feedback for this one.**

 **So let's go onto the reviews... All three of them…**

 **Smithrooks:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Yes that is the fate that poor Raven met, i actually had originally planned for Mortem to kill her but that just seemed like too much.**

 **As for how Kira died... well it won't be what you're expecting. And yeah, i have a list of power levels of all the characters (both dead and alive) and Kira is indeed higher than Mortem. Although she isn't even close to the number 1 spot, or number 2 for that matter.**

 **You'll see why Ravens death was necessary for the plot soon, a lot of big reveals are coming up and some of them are rather... difficult, but i'm sure everything will work out in the end.**

 **Always a pleasure.**

 **Wagner:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **I dare say that Solus will be too busy to train Ruby for quite some time haha. and Yeah i'll transfer your vote.**

 **dudebladeX:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **I never thought that Alcohol would be so popular, i figured it would only get 4 or 5 votes. But hey, i can see the humour in it.**

* * *

 **Now lets take a look at the** **final** **results for the poll.**

 **1st is Ruby with 29 votes.**

 **2nd is Alcohol with 18 votes.**

 **3rd is Raven with 15 votes.**

 **4th is Yang with 12 votes.**

 **5th is Cinder with 11 votes.**

 **Tied for 6th are Velvet and Pyrrha, both ladies having 7 votes.**

 **Tied for 7th are Kira and Blake, both ladies having 6 votes.**

 **Tied for 8th are Summer and Goodwitch, each having 5 votes.**

 **9th is Nora with 4 votes.**

 **Tied for last position is Weiss and Coco, both ladies having 2 votes each.**

* * *

 **So Ruby wins the poll, good for her. The real answer on who Solus will be paired with is… lol no, i'll tell you all next chapter haha.**

 **As always please leave a review, reviews are what motivate me to write more.**


	35. Point of Divergence

Edge of Life

Chapter Thirty Four

Point of Divergence

Solus hung against the wall, suspended in the air by thick aura suppressing chains. He was held low enough that his feet could touch the ground if he strained but high enough that he was in a constant state of minor pain with burning shoulder muscles and aching legs from trying to support himself. The merc was also removed the dignity of covering himself, his captors had removed every item on his person except his underwear. This was made worse by the fact the room was kept at a chilling 5 degrees celsius.

The room was a slate grey box that had no visible entrances or exits, but the imprisoned merc knew there was a door and no doubt two way mirrors to observe him.

He had only awoken moments ago, the last thing he remembered was fighting in the Ever Winter mountains in northern Atlas. He recalled feeling the needle sword bury itself into his gut, he could still feel the lingering pain from the injury, but when he glanced down the only sign he'd ever been stabbed was the thick bruise over his stomach.

The wall on the far side of the room opened up to reveal a shadowed doorway from which two people stepped through, one was a tall woman with pale skin and chocolate brown hair. The other person is what really captured the mercs attention however, the man he had hunted, the man whom had ruined his life, Shirou Schnee.

The man had pure white hair and pale ice blue eyes that held a cunning intelligence, he wore a pristine white business suit that contrasted sharply with the all grey cell.

"Schnee" Solus wheezed with all his might.

The man held a impassive face as he spoke "we meet again Argentum Mortem"

Solus snarled and thrashed weakly in his chains "you're a monster"

"So are you" the Schnee patriarch replied "but I did it because had too, you did it because you wanted too"

"You took her from me! You did this! You made me the way I am! I'll kill you!" Solus all but screamed as he jerked around in his chains.

Shirou didn't reply, instead he turned to the other person in the room and said "attach the device agent"

The tall woman walked briskly towards and held him still with her left hand, his weak attempts to escape her hold utterly futile. With her right hand the woman placed a bronze crown like device over his head, a glowing red crystal sitting between his eyebrows.

Shirou started speaking again "the device is a technological masterpiece, it allows whomever is in control to stimulate the brain into reconstructing all memories within a specified time period and transfer said memories onto a computer with the correct programs to convert the chemical signals and information into a video."

The woman released Solus once the device was firmly attached to his head, she silently exited the room without a word spoken.

Solus was horrified about what the device was, and what the male Schnee planned on doing with it "you're a monster!" He all but screamed "I should have killed you years ago!"

The elder man's impassive face finally broke and a cruel smirk leaked through onto his features "this is my revenge Mortem, you killed my wife, you killed my daughter, you tried to kill me… you will die."

Solus spat in anger.

Shirou wasn't done yet however "but I will only let you die when I allow it."

The white haired man pulled a small remote from his pocket and fiddled with a few buttons then said "this is only the beginning of your punishment" with that final statement the chains suspending the freelancer became electrified.

Screams of pain poured out of Solus' mouth as blue arcs of electricity danced across his body, illuminating his skeleton and causing untold agony.

As the merc screamed in pain Shirou looked on in glee, his face contorted into an expression of joy "this is but a fraction of the pain you will feel! I will break you! And then when you have nothing else to lose I shall take your life!"

The lightning cut out and Solus slumped downwards as far as he could go as smoke radiated from his skin. His breaths were coming in shallow pants and his muscles were spasming painfully.

"Now for my favorite part" Shirou said happily.

Agony unlike anything Solus had ever felt washed over his mind, words didn't describe the pain he felt as the crown device burrowed into his mind. Images of his life flashed through his mind as he felt the blinding agony wash through him, he saw himself doing terrible things as Mortem, his life in the armour flashed through his mind in an instant as he felt a horrible searing pain spike through his mind.

One memory above the others stood out, the memory of memories, the shattering of his mind.

The second time he met Cinder.

 _The SDC had been pretty clear in their orders, guard the fusion reactor at all costs and prevent ANYONE from gaining access to the main computer. Mortem had been very curious as to why they wanted it to be so well protected._

 _The reactor was of course the new dust fusion powered mass energy reactor that the SDC had developed for Vacuo, the massive dust fusion core would power the entire kingdom with clean and reusable energy that would last decades without needing to be replaced. The reactor was housed in the outskirts of Vacuo city in the military district, thus making any kind of civilian access extremely difficult._

 _Naturally the SDC wanted to protect their investment so they had hired him to guard the reactor along with a contingent of actual hunters, all of whom were fingering their weapons and looked ready to attack Mortem at any moment._

 _Mortem was more than happy to let them try._

 _Mortem had planned on taking a closer look at the reactor and its inner workings after he received his full payment from the SDC, then later he and Kira could sell the designs off to the highest bidder. All don't anonymously of course, he liked the SDC jobs because they payed extremely well and if they knew he sold the schematics for their dust reactor... it wouldn't end well._

 _Currently Mortem was just standing outside the main facility and ignoring the death glares the hunters were shooting him, all was calm, all was peaceful._

 _That's when she showed up._

 _On some level Mortem had felt her approach with his young twisted aura mimicking her far older and darker aura, he could feel the power in the air, an underlying current that was invisible to all but him._

 _Walking sensually towards the door to the facility was a woman he had no recollection of but still knew anyway. He felt his aura flutter as he laid his eyes on the form of Cinder fall, he didn't recognize her at all but he knew from the directors records that she was not only the one who had unlocked his aura but also was secretly in absolute control of the director himself._

 _Mortem had always been curious about this woman, he had searched far and wide for her but never found anything… so to see her now was a complete surprise._

 _One of the hunters approached Cinder with his weapon drawn, obviously he was unable to feel the deadly aura the woman exuded otherwise he would have been far more… accommodating that he was "i'm sorry ma'am but this is a private area and you must leave at once!"_

 _Mortem intervened before the fool could get himself killed at the hands of the dangerous woman, with a harsh shove he punted the smaller man to the ground away from Cinder "forgive his rudeness Cinder" Mortem all but purred "he doesn't know who you are"_

 _The deadly woman smirked and ran her finger down the side of Mortems gleaming silver armour "you feel familiar…" she said lowly "I feel your aura, so wild, so untamed… so similar to my own…"_

 _The hunter team by now were all lined up and had their weapons pointed towards Cinder and Mortem, but the duo either didn't notice or didn't care because they completely ignored the little hunters in favour of their conversation._

 _Mortems aura flared slightly as he felt Cinder so close after many years apart "you freed me, i awoke anew in death, tainted by blood and swift in speed you unleashed me."_

 _Cinders eyes widened a fraction at the words Mortem used "I see… you have grown much 13, did any of the other subjects survive?"_

 _Mortem grinned underneath his mask "subject 8 did as well, the world knows her as the Red Lady."_

 _A pleased smirk crossed Cinders face "truly? That is excellent news… both you and she will complete your mission and serve me. come we must disable this reactor, we cannot allow it to become fully operational"_

 _Mortem didn't like the sound of that… both he and Kira lived for chaos, for the freedom that life in power offered. They didn't 'serve' anyone, not even their true creator._

" _I cannot do that Cinder" Mortem said strongly despite his disappointment at the way this was going "she and I are free, and we will not accept another master"_

 _Cinder grew visibly angry "I am the reason you exist Mortem, I made you what you are, you cannot stand against me"_

" _I am death, I am Mortem. You are nothing."  
_

 _Mortem knew that engaging someone of Cinders power in open combat was foolish, but he had little choice at this point. He would at least ensure that he didn't prolong her death…_

 _Cinder attacked first, releasing a massive wave of fire in every direction. Mortem was sent flying backwards but was otherwise fine, the hunter team was not so lucky however. They were all caught in the blast and a few of them were incinerated instantly, their ashes floating in the wind. The ones that were strong enough to not be turned to ash still suffered a terrible fate, their charred bodies collapsing onto the ground without sound._

 _Mortem pushed himself to his feet and glared at Cinder from his position 20 meters away "what is so important about this reactor that you must disable it?"_

 _The woman's deadly amber eyes glowed with barely suppressed power as she hissed at Mortem "you fool, you don't understand do you? That's not a reactor"_

 _Before Mortem could even think on her words she had all but disappeared, in a fraction of a second Cinder was 20 feet in the air with a bow in her hands. In less than a fraction of a second the old woman fired three arrows towards him._

 _To Mortem it seemed like the shots went wide, none of them made contact with him at all. But before he could move to attack Cinder the ground around him combusted into furiously burning flames that licked at his armour as he was sent into the air yet again._

 _Cinder didn't hesitate to attack Argentum as he sailed through the air, she rocketed through the air and split her bow into two razor sharp swords. with blinding speed she soared over the armoured man and unleashed a quick flurry of stabs and slashes across his thickly armoured torso._

 _Mortem hit the ground hard, but he didn't waste a moment, he rolled to his feet and glared at his opponent from across the concrete courtyard. He was fully aware that he was outmatched, but now that Cinder knew who he and Kira were… and more importantly where they called home…_

 _She couldn't be allowed to leave._

 _So Mortem brought his full power to bear, his aura charged until it was a static shield around his body and armour, he felt his muscle tighten in anticipation, the adrenaline flowing through his blood… he would end this._

 _As one final show of his will to win this Mortem drew his family's ancestral blade from it sheath, and with old and worn leather still covering it he turned the other half of the weapon into it shield form. He held the sword and shield in front of him menacingly as he stared down Cinder._

 _The woman was just floating off the ground with a stream of fire holding her up, a casual almost bored smirk adorning her features. Almost lazily she swiped her hands outwards and a stream of fire shot out, with speed that belied his size Mortem nimbly dodged. But he didn't have time to do much else, as more streams of fire shot out wards. He dodged all of 3 streams before he was forced to used his family shield to deflect the burning flames._

 _The tatty leather covering the shield was burnt away in an instant, the ancient shield remained steady however, the two golden arcs glowing brightly in the intense heat. Using his great strength Mortem pushed forwards through the deadly stream of flames and towards Cinder with Crocea Mors swung upwards in an effort to remove the old womans head._

 _Mortem was caught by complete surprise when Cinder_ _ **caught**_ _the sword. Both her hands were clasped around the razor sharp blade and were shaking with the effort of hold back Mortems intense strength._

 _Caught off guard Mortem didn't have time to react when Cinder lashed out with her leg and kicked him with strength that belied her feminine frame, Mortem crashed into the wall of the reactor complex with a burst of flames._

 _Mortem only had a second to look up and see Cinder rocketing towards him at a blinding speed, with nary a second to react the merc jumped up and towards Cinder with all his strength and shoulder bashed her away from him._

 _Her distraction was only momentary however, Mortem rushed forwards with his sword and shield and unleashed a flurry of powerful slashes and stabs. All were blocked by the elder woman however with her swords that had seemingly formed from nothing in her hands, with one final swipe Mortem was left open and Cinder took the opportunity and with both her weapons swiped at him and in an explosion of flames sent him into the air._

 _Mortem didn't miss a beat however, as he soared backwards he threw his sword at the vile woman like a spear, she battered the weapon aside with ease, the he threw his shield at her using the kite design as a razor aimed at her throat. Unfortunately she battered the old shield away with similar ease as the sword._

 _She was slightly caught off guard when Mortem pushed off a wall while in mid air and tackled her with all his strength._

 _As soon as his body came in contact with hers however he realised his mistake, Cinders body and the air around it was so hot that warning signals flashed through his helmet and the the metal on the outside layer of his armour began to soften._

 _Cinder didn't hesitate to use this to her advantage, she pressed her body onto his back and brought her swords over his neck to slit his throat._

 _Mortem was just able to catch the blades before they removed his head, once again he was shocked at just how strong Cinder was. With intense help from his semblance and armour the freelancer was able to slowly pull the deadly weapons away from his neck._

 _Cinder was undeterred though, with monstrous strength she kicked him in the back with all her might._

 _The force of the blow was so great that Mortem was sent flying through the reinforced wall of the reactor facility and tumbling through the bases internal walls like they were little more than tissue paper._

 _Finally he came to a stop with his back against a cracked concrete wall, he could feel that his aura was extremely low and his back felt like it was on fire with pain. Slowly his eyes raise up to see Cinder standing a few meters in front of him, a pleased smirk on her face as she hovered in the air with fire._

" _You cannot win" she said sinisterly._

 _Mortem didn't reply, talking was irrelevant at this point. Slowly he raised his hands as if surrendering, Cinder smirked at his apparent defeat. But her smirk vanished when deadly arcs of lightning shot out of Mortems fingertips and bathed the room in energy._

 _She just barely managed to bring her swords up to cover herself, but the lightning was too powerful and it arced across her body and caused her to cry out slightly in pain. Mortem poured more power into his attack and a smirk began to work its way onto his face, maybe he had won?_

 _But that was not to be, flames exploded outwards and pushed Mortem against the wall even more and burnt away the sensitive lightning apparatus on his hands, thus destroying his ability to generate the deadly electricity._

 _Smoke poured off her body as Cinder towered over his fallen form, her eyes glowed dangerously with rage and power as she looked at him. "You fool" she hissed "you could have served me and lived like a god!"_

 _Mortem groaned in his armour, his ribs cracked and bruised from hitting the wall so hard with the weakened section of his armour, but one final plan to win was forming in his fatigued mind "like a slave you mean."_

 _Despite the fact that she was ready for anything he could throw at her Mortem lashed out with some of the last dregs of his aura and fired a ball of explosive energy at her face._

 _Like he expected her to the old woman blocked and the explosion washed over her like nothing. Rage was clear on her face as her burning eyes locked back onto Mortem, but her rage quickly turned to shock when she noticed what surrounded her._

 _Dozens of greyish white balls of explosive aura hovered around the deadly woman, all the balls were the size of a beach ball and were twice the size of what he had used against her moments ago._

 _Mortem smirked under his helmet "you lose cindy" he snarled as he violently slammed his hands together making all the deadly aura collapse onto the elder woman._

 _The ground rocked and Mortem was sent flying backwards through a few more walls and tumbling ass over kettle along the ground. Despite his utterly depleted aura and pain Mortem let a chuckle bubble out of his lips, he could see a deep crater and pile of rubble when Cinders body no doubt lay._

 _It was over..._

 _He was about to push himself off the ground when a dainty blood covered hand burst out of the rubble, Mortem couldn't help but gape in horror and surprise as the bloodied Cinder rose from the rubble._

 _With blood leaking freely from several cuts and burns across her body Cinder stalked towards where Mortem stood with rage filled eyes. Mortem was frozen in shock as he look at her, that was his most powerful attack, not even Kira could withstand that without being pulverized, just how monstrously strong was Cinder?_

" _You wretch!" Cinder hissed "death is too good for you!"_

 _Mortem was caught in morbid fascination as she spoke her next words, her voice filled with barely suppressed anger "Subject 13B PXO-338"_

 _In an instant the world exploded into agony for the armoured merc, memories of things long forgotten burnt through his mind as an utterly indescribable pain. Memories from things he could never recall before seared into his mind, he remembered the pain of having his aura unleashed, he remembered watching his father fight the grimm… oh gods…_

 _He had a mother and a father. He remembered them, their smiles, their laughs, their good moments and their bad. He remembered the little lines of stress his father had creasing his brow, he remembered the time his mother accidentally cut herself while cooking. The time he broke a plate and he cried because he thought he would get in trouble, his mother had hugged him so tightly telling him everything was okay…_

 _His sisters, all three of them. He had played games with them and… they had all been so carefree. He remembered being so excited about getting more playmates when his mother told them she was pregnant again, the joy he had felt had been so surreal._

 _He remembered the time his father took him camping on a 'boys only weekend' and they had roasted marshmallows over the fire while the older man told stories of life as a hunter, the unadulterated admiration the young boy had felt was unreal…_

 _He finally remembered now… he wasn't Jaune Arc heir to a powerful warrior family… no._

 _He was Jaune Arc, son of John and Jane Arc._

 _Jaune Mortem writhed on the ground in agony as his life flashed before his eyes, for a split second there was a peace then it felt like the world shattered around him. His mind split in its own agony, he remembered being Jaune Arc, loving son and brother that would never hurt a fly. He remembered being Argentum Mortem, slayer of Independence, the silver death that would never again be a slave._

 _He was both and neither at the same time._

 _It… it was too much, his mind was destroying itself in untold torment.. Half of him screamed that he was Jaune Arc, the other half rejected the weakness of that and told him that he was Argentum Mortem._

"You are Jaune Arc! _" The voice of his younger self screamed, it was his voice from before the eclipse._

"No! You are Argentum Mortem! The Slayer of Independence! _" It was his own voice now when he wore the armour, a horrible synthetic rasp._

 _Argentum Arc thrashed on the ground, Cinder stood over him with her bloody form smirking viciously "do you understand now?" She all but cooed._

" _Wh-what have you done to me!?" The false Arc screamed._

" _I made you remember who you really are." Cinder said, obviously enjoying watching him suffer "you and all the other subjects were just another tool for me, but before that you were a person. You had dreams, hopes, desires. Now do you understand all that you have lost? What your life could have been if the director had never taken you? If the eclipse had never happened?"_

 _Pain had faded to a background noise in the face of what the old woman was saying, all this, all his life had been a product of the woman before him. Rage filled every pore of his being, anger like he had never felt before clouded over his thought processes._

 _For an instant he was whole again._

 _With a speed that Cinder couldn't even begin to comprehend the silver Arc had leapt to his feet and back handed her across the face with such force that it shattered through her aura and broke her cheekbone, as well as sending her soaring through several concrete walls._

 _Cinder tumbled through the walls and across the ground very ungracefully, finally coming to a stop more than 50 meters away. Groggily she shook her head to clear away the pain and confusion, the moment she regained her equilibrium however she leapt back in shocked surprise._

 _Mortem stood over where she had laid and his armour glistened in blood, both hers and his own. The towering beast of a man was shaking with uncontrollable rage "_ _ **YOU DID THIS!**_ _" He roared._

 _Cinder didn't reply, instead she threw both her hands forwards and unleashed two strong bursts of flame. The effort was moot however because Jaune again moved with speed that was completely beyond Cinder, his pure white eyes twitched in rage as he kicked the old woman with strength that entirely ignored her aura and cracked her ribs._

 _The dark haired beauty flew through more walls, eventually coming to a stop with her back against a cracked concrete pillar. Mortem was upon her in an instant, he grasped her by her dainty neck and lifted her up to his eye level, his unseen white eyes glaring with pure fury at the woman before him._

" _How!?" Cinder hissed as she clawed at his hand "how are you this powerful!?"_

" _ **YOU MADE ME!"**_

 _With his free hand the deranged Arc unleashed a massive greyish white ball of energy in Cinders gut. The old raven haired woman was blasted away into the distance with a blood curdling scream of pain._

 _Jaune Mortem stood for a moment, admiring his work, but the moment was fleeting as the immense mental pain of his shattered mind returned. His two halves screamed in rage and defiance to one another, the sliver armoured man felt the pressure building in his skull, the immense pain._

 _But the pain was clouded with horror moments later._

 _The room he was in was some kind of reactor control center, the many computer screens were all displaying the same thing however. In bold red letters that covered their respective screens the words '_ _ **WARNING CRITICAL MELTDOWN IMMINENT**_ _'_

 _He didn't know what to do, had the fight caused this? With as much haste as his fatigued body could muster the merc moved-_

Solus snapped out of the torturous memory with a gasp, a blinding headache seared across his mind.

A small monitor on the wall was playing through the memory, Shirou Schnee watched with rapt attention.

As the memory came to an end the man turned to Solus who was hanging low in his chains "it seems the memory has cut off" the rich man stated "it would appear that your mind needs more 'encouragement'"

With the press of a button lightning surged through the chains and blinding pain coursed through the battered mercs body.

"Soon" Shirou purred as the man before him suffered "soon you will understand my pain"

* * *

Ruby, Yang and Blake jumped out of their 'borrowed' bullhead with a muffled thump, all three girls were decked out in state of the art snowsuits that kept them warm in the freezing conditions of the area around them.

They had arrived that the location specified by Solus' call for help, all three girls looked at the decimated ice valley before them with trepidation, it looked like a war had been fought here.

"Okay girls" Ruby said "spread out, see if you can find Solus or a clue to where he is."

The other two did as they were bid and spread out over the ice field, combing it for any sign of their missing partner.

Blake was the first to find any indication of recent human activity, she was walking through a variable maze of giant ice spikes and chunks when she kicked something extremely hard with her foot.

Her yelp of surprise and annoyance drew Yang over, the sisters looked at the faunas in curiosity as to why she made the sound.

Blake brushed the snow away to reveal a steel grey spin-up minigun, the weapon was entirely covered in snow and looked a little worse for wear. Before Blake could comment on the weapon Yang beat her to the punch "is... That a minigun?"

Blake nodded in confirmation "maybe Solus used it to-" whatever else she was going to say was cut off when Ruby called out their names loudly "YANG! BLAKE!"

The two partners didn't waste a moment, they bolted towards where Ruby was. Both girls stopped dead when they saw Ruby and what the younger girl was looking at.

It was a pool of frozen blood. The red stood in sharp contrast with the pure white snow all around them, the blood was frozen solid and was little more than an ice block though.

The real shocker though was Solus worn looking gun sticking out of the snow a few feet away, it was currently in its sniper rifle form and it looked slightly damaged.

"Solus…" Ruby muttered sadly.

Yang placed a comforting hand on her younger sister's shoulder "don't worry Rubes, i'm sure we'll find him" she said the words as convincingly as she could despite her own dwindling hope of finding the freelancer.

Ruby nodded and opened her mouth to say something but was cut off when the ground shook violently from beneath their feet.

"What the hell!?" Yang cried in surprise as the ground quaked.

A rumble then the sound of shattering ice in the center of the valley alerted the trainee's to danger. A massive worm like grimm burst out of the ground, the creature was completely black and had one massive mouth that hundreds of saliva covered teeth glistened. The beast roared at the three girls with anger that was common among grimm.

Team RSYB minus the S prepared their weapons each looking at the menacing grimm with slight trepidation.

"Okay" Ruby began, a plan already forming in her mind "Yang i need you to keep it occupied, Blake you-"

The young girl was cut off when something completely unexpected happened, out of the sky a massive purple bolt of lightning crashed into the space between the girls and the giant grimm. The worm beast was thrown backwards and smashed into the side of the valley with a thump.

The three girls who had been slightly further away were still knocked off their feet and were blasted back slightly, but they could still see what was happening. Where the lightning had struck there was a violet… rip.

Rip was the only way to describe what they were seeing, it was a vertical tear that hovered a few inches off the ground and it seemed to absorb all the light around it, making it hard to look directly at.

Both the grimm and team RSYB was transfixed as they saw a hand slowly reach out and grasp the edge of the tear, the dainty hand pulled slowly and after what felt like years but was really little more than a few seconds a person emerged from the mysterious rip.

A woman with silver eyes and a red cloak stood, her eyes surveyed the snowy valley her gaze that was akin steel. She stood with her back ramrod straight and didn't seem weighed down in the slightest from the mass of weapons she had on her person.

On her hands were shotgun gauntlets that had used to be a beautiful golden but now were little more than a sickly yellow worn by time. On her left hip sat two swords, one was in a gleaming silver sheath and had two yellow arcs on it. The other sword had a gleaming silver blade and thick red rim as well as a trigger on its handle.

On her right thigh a faded black cord was tightly wrapped around a extremely worn black pistol that was locked into a small blackish grey blade and cleaver. Sitting in the small of her back was a red collapsed scythe that had chips in its fading paint.

The woman smiled faintly and looked up at the weakly shining sun, her skin seemed so incredibly pale and was similar to the snow around them. But in the light of the sun she seemed to almost glow, her dark red hair hung limply but life surged through her entire body.

Finally after a moment of silence the strange woman turned her gaze downwards and locked eyes with Ruby, the twin sets of identical silver eyes held their gaze for a moment before Ruby quietly almost brokenly asked "mum?"

The new woman shook her head, her long hair gently swaying "no" she said in a voice much like Ruby's "my name is Ruby Rose, and i'm from the future"

 **A/N**

 **Okay… so that happened.**

 **Let's start at the beginning. Solus has been captured by the dastardly Shirou Schnee and is currently being tortured because Shirou is a dick… but a completely justified dick. We finally have confirmation that Solus (or Argentum at the time) killed Winter and the as of yet un-named mummy Schnee, but i can assure you that there was a reason for that.**

 **So that fight with Cinder… it probably wasn't clear but Cinder does outclass Mortem she still isn't at Ozpin's level, yet. So what did you guys think of the fight? I put a lot of thought into it and i hope i made it seem realistic. And what do you all think of Cinders comment "** _you fool, you don't understand do you? That's not a reactor_ _ **"**_ **what could she have meant?**

 **And now we come the confusing mess that is time travel… sit tight and read carefully because i'm about to explain some extremely simplified theoretical physics, please don't take offence to that, i just want everyone to understand and i'm not belittling anyone's intelligence. This is important so please if you have any questions or don't understand feel free to PM me, i'm always happy to talk.**

 **Time travel in this story will work in accordance to the multiverse theory i.e there is an infinite amount of different universes, some so similar that you could spend a lifetime looking for any differences and some so radically different that it's almost impossible to determine where things diverged. The reason for these differences come down to choice. say for example I was walking down the street one day, then i was faced with the option of going either left or right. I choose right then continue on my merry way, but in another universe i choose left, and in another i turn around and go back the way i came. Now apply this logic to every choice and decision that EVERY human has ever made.**

 **Now let's say that the future Ruby comes from universe 1 and that the story we have followed so far has taken place in universe 2. In universe 1 everything was identical to what you have read in universe 2 up until the point of divergence (that being when Ruby arrived in the past) so in universe 1 events continued to unfold without outside influence for years. Then future Ruby and Weiss create a time machine and send Ruby back to the events of this chapter (let's call this point A) in doing so she created another universe that is completely separate from her own (universe 2) future Ruby hasn't exactly traveled in time per se but instead crossed dimensions. So theoretically Ruby could return to her own dimension, but to avoid creating another timeline/universe she would have to return to the same point that she left from.**

 **So Future Ruby went into universe at point A therefore if she were to travel to any time AFTER point A she would not create a new timeline, she would just alter the existing events. But if she were to travel to a time BEFORE point A she would just create a new timeline, one in which another seemingly identical version of her would appear at point A thinking that it was a un-altered timeline.**

 **So using this thesis for time travel it is impossible for future Ruby to do something stupid and erase herself from existence. She is a completely different person in universe 2, still Ruby Rose, but not** **that** **Ruby Rose.**

 **I understand that this is a bit of a headache, but it is sort of a requirement for me to explain. You probably don't particularly care for the science behind it all right now but it will be important later.**

 **So all that aside let's take a look at the reviews…**

 **Guest:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Alas Kira is dead and that cannot be changed. But it should be noted that when Ruby came from the future she did not come alone.**

 **Smithrooks:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **To be entirely fair, i did warn you haha.**

 **Solus does indeed have a bad habit of underestimating his enemies, but that stems from him being used to fighting in a nigh impervious set of power armour. As for why he didn't actually use said armour was because he's not in control when he does, as seen in chapter 21 when he was escaping Vale. And no, he is not dead as his message specifically stated "...i'll still be alive otherwise you'd be getting a different message..." but it is safe to assume that he is being tortured by the SDC.**

 **Yeah i was intentionally vague about when exactly Future Ruby is coming from, and why exactly she is coming back. Although it should be noted that she will NOT be going back into her past body, she will come back as she is and will retain all all her skills/knowledge she gained in the future. As for her designs for the past... well, you'll see.**

 **Next chapter there will be some explanations about the situation, future Ruby will explain stuff so don't worry.**

 **TheMAO17:  
** **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Theory 1:**

 **Well... you're not entirely wrong, but its not right either.**

 **Theory 2:**

 **A lot closer but still not quite getting there.**

 **i suppose both your theories are right to a degree, though i dare say you will be quite surprised when we really get stuck into arc 3. And no i couldn't resist referencing Red vs Blue, its amazing.**

 **Haha i can't say i disagree with your views on alcohol coming second, i didn't think it would get so high in the ranking, but you are right that alcohol has always been there for us when we need it.**

 **Me:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **The reason i have a two week break between arcs is simply because i need time to get my act together, this story is long and complicated but i try my hardest to write well.**

 **Oh and because it builds suspense haha, what kind of author would i be if i didn't add a cliff hanger or two every now and then?**

 **THE L0NE WANDERER** **:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Nope, no days of futures past time travel here. This interpretaion of time travel is based on our current understanding of science, not comic books.**

 **Also sorry but no. as i have stated numerous times in previous authors notes Salem isnt a thing in this story, she never was and never will be. The reason the world is shit is completely different, and much much worse.**

 **Fashathus:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Haha well fear not, alcohol will always hold a special place in Solus' heart. But the true pairing is as stated below.**

 **Green Gustavo**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **I hope that the above explanation clears things up on how time travel is gonna work. I chose the multiverse theory because that avoids the cliche going into a past body and it avoids the nasty implications of any paradoxes that might occur.**

* * *

 **So all that aside it is finally time for me to reveal the pairing that has been so long contested…. And the answer is….**

 **Ruby Rose!**

… **from the future!**

 **So everyone that voted for Ruby were** _ **technically**_ **right so give yourselves a pat on the back. And fear not all those that voted for the only other possible pairing, the mighty Alcohol, the unspecific liquid will always hold a special place in the heart of Solus.**

 **Anyway leave a review, tell me what you think, your thoughts/theories on what's gonna happen are always appreciated.**

 **Leave a review!**


	36. In a Mirror Darkly

Edge of Life

Chapter Thirty Five

In a Mirror Darkly

The girls of team RSYB stood in shocked silence, this strange woman who had just appeared out of nowhere claimed to be from the future. Not only that but she looked alarmingly similar to Ruby and Yang's deceased mother Summer Rose, and worse still she claimed to be an older version of Ruby.

"What. the. Fuck." Yang voiced everyone's thoughts perfectly.

The woman only smiled serenely, her silver eyes held great seriousness but also danced with slight amusement as she watched the reactions of her past team "i know this comes as quite the shock" she said with a surprisingly mellow voice "but i think we should hold off on questions until the Grimm is dead"

The younger Ruby was to shocked to actually say anything, so she just nodded dumbly as the other two girls eyed the woman suspiciously but complied with the reasonable request.

The elder Rose turned to face off against the massive Grimm, her red cloak billowing slightly in the cold Atlasian wind. The other girls moved into line with the woman and readied their respective weapons, but before they could attack or do anything the woman pulled the two swords from her hip.

The other girls couldn't help but stare at the blades, the one in her right hand was Burning Rose, Summers weapon. The one in her left hand was Solus' gleaming silver sword, the weapon looked scratched and worn compared to when they had last seen it.

But that was impossible, Burning Rose had been left back at Beacon with the rest of their stuff. And Solus had his sword with him before he disappeared, so how could this woman have gotten them?

Regardless of the impossibility of the weapons being here with the mysterious woman the girls refocused their attention to the massive Grimm that loomed over them menacingly, its teeth bared and a vicious growl escaping its mouth.

"Don't worry, i can deal with it on my own" the stranger said, her eyes never leaving the beast.

The other girls didn't respond, if the woman really was Ruby from the future then she should know that they'd never let her do this alone.

But apparently they weren't given the option.

The woman disappeared in a flurry of rose petals, she was so fast the the others didn't even see her leave or her move at all. The next thing they saw were two deep cuts across the belly of the massive worm Grimm, the beast howled in pain and thrashed around to try and hit its attacker.

The girls didn't wait any longer, instead they dashed forward to attack the Grimm on their own. The stranger had yet to be seen again, instead more deep cuts appeared across the Grimms massive body. Yang and Blake began working in tandem to attack, Yang charged forwards and began peppering the creature with blasts from her weapons, Blake dashed through the areas Yang shot and sliced through the weakened skin with her blackened swords.

The young Ruby stayed back and sniped the Grimm from afar with pinpoint accuracy with her sniper, picking her targets wisely and keeping well out of range of the Grimms attacks.

The elder Ruby was almost unseen to the other girls, her semblance was boosting her speed enormously to the point that the only way to trace her path was the trail of rose petals that floated gently in the wind.

All too soon the beast was dying from the plethora of injuries that littered its huge body, its attacks lumbered slowly towards the women attacking it, its massive teeth snapped weakly towards its killers in a final attempt to kill the humans and faunas.

With one final lurch the beast collapsed dead to the snowy ground, the black misima all Grimm emit at death oozing from its form.

"All right where's the liar?!" Yang spat angrily when they moved away from the dead Grimm.

"I can assure you that i'm not lying Yang"

Yang jumped at hearing the voice of the woman right behind her, the blonds eyes flashed red when she looked at the Summer look-alike but before she could say anything Blake cut her off "obviously you are, time travel is impossible."

The woman nodded and said "i used to think the same you know, but i'm not lying. I can prove it"

Yang sneered at the woman "do it then, show us your proof"

The woman looked at Yang with her gaze never leaving the blondes purple eyes "Yang Xiao Long, you spent years looking for your mother Raven Branwen. You almost got both yourself and Ruby killed over your search, but luckily you were saved by uncle Qrow." Yangs jaw dropped as the woman kept speaking "for years you hated your father, detested the way he shut down after Summer's death. But you eventually forgave him when he promised to train you to be the strongest huntress you could be."

Yang just nodded weakly at the woman, completely convinced of her being Ruby since no-one else knew about any of that.

The woman turned to Blake, the faunas' eyes were narrowed in disbelief "and you Blake Belladonna were a member of the White Fang even before the days of fort Independance, you remember the day Argentum Mortem destroyed everything and killed your parents. You remember looking up at the silver armour of the bounty hunter and waiting for death, but you were saved by Adam. You crawled out of the Jade jungle with a gaping hole in your gut, the terror you felt when you thought you were going to die like the rest of the White Fang…"

Blake stared at the Future Ruby in abject horror… how could she possibly know all that? It was impossible… unless she really was telling the truth.

"And finally you Ruby" the elder woman's gaze settled onto her younger self "do you remember what uncle Qrow told you before you got onto the airship for Beacon?" The younger girl nodded "you were nervous, a little teary, you were worried you would be a failure, but then he said to you 'everyone has a struggle in life, the key is turning that struggle into a weapon'"

The three girls were silent in the face of the words from the future, each girl knew now that the woman spoke the truth and that she really was from the future. But if she was here that begged the question… where were they?

"I have come from many years in the future, how many i don't even know anymore." The elder Ruby said "in my time Remnant is all but destroyed, the kingdoms laid to waste years ago"

"Where are Solus, Blake and Yang?" Young Ruby interrupted "the ones from your time i mean."

The elder Ruby's eyes darkened with sorrow as she brought her hands out before her, the sickly yellow gauntlets unfolding into their shotgun mode. "My Yang died in the battle of Vale, killed like the others." She pulled the greyish pistol sword from her hip "Blake died a few years later during the fall of Mistral"

The two girls looked at the weapons in sadness, they hoped it had been quick.

The younger Ruby looked at her elders hip, where Solus' sword was in its scabbard "and what happened to Solus? How… how did he die?"

The future Rose grimmanced "Solus as you know him died about a year from now, killed by Shirou Schnee. But that's…" the woman sighed deeply, her silver eyes closing for a fraction of a second before lighting with determination.

"Let me start at the beginning, it's a long story so sit down" the three girls nodded and plopped down into the snow, ready to hear the tale of their future.

"Everything in my time went exactly the same for me as it did for you up until this point, the arrival at beacon, the fight with the kraken, Solus disappearing then asking for help… all of it was the same." future Ruby started.

"But when we got here no future version of me arrived and we had to fight the Grimm alone, we killed it in the end but in the process Blake broke her arm and we were forced to retreat back to Beacon, but we promised ourselves that we'd return to look for Solus"

The younger girls shared a look but listened to the story.

"We never stopped looking but no matter how hard we searched we never found a trace of him, it was like Solus had vanished of the face of the planet, after about a year we were ready to give up. We had been to every information broker in Vale but nothing ever came up, he was just… gone." Ruby paused, a small dip in her head of sadness before continuing "it was actually Weiss that led us to him in the end. She had recently found out that her father had captured Solus and had spent the last year inflicting the worst kinds of torture imaginable on him"

The younger Ruby shot up excitedly "that means you know where he is now right? We can go get him! Stop that all from happening!"

The elder Ruby snorted in derision "yes i know where he is now, but you need to understand the full story before you charge in and get people killed again!"

The younger Ruby recoiled like she'd been slapped, a look of horror streaked across her face "w-what? I don't know what you mean…"

The older Ruby sighed "i'm sorry, i shouldn't have snapped, but just listen okay?"

The younger Ruby nodded, still unsure of what the older woman had meant.

"When Weiss told us where Solus was she was overcome with guilt, she demanded that she come with us when we rescued him, she said that she needed to help atone for the sins of her father" the elder Rose paused "and with her came the rest of team PRWN, we didn't really object, they were the number 1 team in Beacon by that point so we were willing to accept the backup."

"I was in charge of the mission, we stole a bullhead and broke into the secret facility that Solus was being held in… but by that point it was far too late." The elder woman's eyes looked off into the distance, unfocused and lost in the past.

"As we arrived at the base we were greeted by utter carnage, there were bodies everywhere. Shirou Schnee had… broken Solus. After over a year of constant torture Solus finally snapped, his mind shattered into dozens of different personalities, all of them different in many ways, but all of them hell bent on one thing: revenge."

Blake spoke up "what do you mean? Stuff like that doesn't just happen"

"Yes but Solus already has a history with mental conditions similar to this, not nearly as bad but still." The elder Rose replied.

"He didn't just want revenge on Shirou Schnee, he blamed all of Remnant for his suffering. Normally this wouldn't have been a problem but in his insanity a very old power was unlocked within him… something his family has had for generations but until then had been locked away. His power was insane, he became so powerful that even the strongest hunters were _nothing_ compared to him."

"When we found him he was consumed by his anger and hatred, he was what we would later come to know as the Omega personality, his purest expression of rage. We tried to talk him down, beg him to stop that carnage… but the Omega lashed out at us. In less than 20 seconds Ren and Nora were dead, utterly destroyed by Omega and his rage.

The three girls gasped in horror, Solus had killed Ren and Nora?! That was… nightmarish.

"He was going to kill the rest of us too, he almost got Weiss as well, he had just torn off her arm when the Atlas military arrived. A full battle ready legion of over 300 soldiers came to our aid, but it wasn't enough… that's when we got our first taste of the Iota fragment of his personality, Iota was all of Solus' happiness, his joy…. He laughed and smiled as he decimated the entire legion, sadistic happiness is all Iota ever was, the purest expression of his joy."

Yang interrupted "wait… how many fragments were there?"

The older Ruby sighed and listed out the causes of her darkest nightmares "all the personalities were based off Solus' different emotions, all the fragments were driven only by their own singular emotion. There was Omega, his rage, all the anger Solus had ever felt, Omega was the second strongest of them all."

"There was Iota, his happiness. He found deranged joy in the suffering of others, he always howled with laughter whenever he caused pain. I'll never forget his taunts and jokes, the truly black humour that he oozed."

"Then there was Theta, his trust. He always screamed that he had trusted us, thought we were his friends and how he had used to have faith in us. He screamed that he had trusted us, and that we had failed him and betrayed him."

"Next was Eta, his fear" old Ruby sighed "he was terrified of everything, and like a child he lashed out at what he didn't understand, he was the most unpredictable of them all. He'd cry and beg for his mother and yet at the same time he would murder by the dozens."

"Then he was Epsilon, his memory. He would tell us stories as he killed us, tell us about things he'd done, the horrors he had endured through his life. He… was one of the worst because he took pleasure in telling you how he killed your loved ones."

"And there was Delta, his logic. He couldn't comprehend what had happened to him so that fragment of his mind detached and was born, he always told us in an utterly emotionless voice that resistance was futile, that death would come for all whether by Grimm or his hands didn't matter.

"Then we have Gamma, his deceit. Every word Gamma spoke was a lie, sometimes he would just repeat 'my name is Solus Superstes' over and over again"

"And there was Beta, his… failure. Beta was the weakest of the fragments, Still god like mind you, but every time he was about to succeed at whatever twisted goal he had set for himself he would always fail. Everytime he neared his end game he would fail."

"Then there was Sigma, his ambition and creativity. Sigma wanted to kill _everyone_ , he didn't stop, _nothing_ survived Sigma when he was in control. And when he finally killed someone… it was always very messy."

"And there was Zeta, his envy and jealousy. He always screamed how unfair life was, how everyone else had it easy while he suffered. He swore that he deserved better than what he got, better than anyone else."

"And finally there was one fragment we only ever saw once… the most powerful of them all by far… was Alpha. He was… all of them combined in one horrible beast that would stop at nothing to see his goal complete, Alpha was so powerful he leveled half of Vytal when he finally died."

The three girls of team RSYB sat and processed the information, it all just seemed so… impossible, but the worst part of it was the fear that what she said was actually true.

Young Ruby was the first to break the silence "that shouldn't be possible… what could have done that to Solus?"

"After the life that J-" the older woman caught herself before continuing, but this did not go unnoticed "after the life that Solus led most types of physical torture wasn't exactly an issue for him, hell he basically lived it anyway."

"Wait… you know his past?" Yang interrupted.

"Yes but we'll get to that" future Ruby said tersely "Shirou Schnee had spent years developing a device that causes extreme mental pain and tears memories and thoughts from the recipient's mind"

"Th-that's inhuman!" Blake said, suitably horrified at what she was hearing.

Old Ruby sighed "very, but unfortunately Solus was subjected to the device for over a year. And is as we speak under its influence."

Young Ruby leapt to her feet "then what are we waiting for!? Let's go save him!"

Before anyone else could do anything a small… person appeared from future Ruby's belt. It was obviously a poorly projected hologram since its image flickered with a grey hue to the projection and it was only about a foot tall. The projection hovered at eye height for the young Ruby and much to the girls horror and surprise it looked exactly like Solus…

But without any of his terrible scars.

"NO!" the projection screamed, rage and fury etched across his small features "NO NO NO NO!"

Yang and Blake shot to their feet and backed away from the screaming hologram "what's… that?" Yang asked while looking intently at the Solus look a like.

The projection leveled his gaze onto Yang, fury seeping from his words "I HAVE DEFIED GODS AND DEMONS"

Future Ruby sighed and moved before the hologram "it's okay shh… it's okay…."

The grey hue of the small hologram shifted to a golden/yellow shade and his eyes began to dart around in utter terror and fear "nonono i- i-" nothing more was said as the hologram winked out of existence.

Future Ruby turned to face her past team "that was all that remains of Solus from my time. The two fragments you saw were Omega and Eta"

"But how is that possible?" Blake questioned "that was just a hologram, a prerecorded message."

"No, do you know what an AI is?" upon seeing the nods Ruby continued "when Solus was young a… terrible man used him and many other children to create his own personal army. Every child had a chip implanted in their brain and their personality and all their memories copied into their own personal AI. the copies were continually updating, they would know everything that the original knew."

"The copies were ultimately flawed and were incapable of replicating emotions in any significant way, but when Solus went insane so did his AI. Im not really clear on the details but the programing was… damaged in someway. The result is what you just saw."

The three other girls were horrified at what they were hearing… this was… they had to save Solus… prevent any of that from happening.

"This is why i came back" Future Ruby said slowly "in my time the world is just ash and blood… but we can stop that here and now, we can save Solus."

Young Ruby caught on "Yeah! Let's go save Solus!"

The three younger girls ran off to where their bullhead was parked, the older Ruby trailed behind a bit. The AI Jaune appeared before her, this time his colouring was a rotted black that absorbed the surrounding light signifying to Ruby that it was Beta "they will fail, you will fail. You cannot stop her"

Future Ruby leveled her gaze onto the blackened projection "no i doubt we can Beta, but we can try."

The hologram shifted shifted colours once more, this time becoming red and with flickering flames distorting his form "you will try" his voice was almost duel toned "but she will kill you all, that is if i don't first."

Ruby snarled "begone Sigma."

 _I know we'll win, we have to._

 **A/N**

 **So… that chapter was just one** _ **long**_ **reference to RvB but hopefully everyone understands what's happening and what's going on.**

 **So finally we get to the revelation that it was infact Solus that messed up the future… not Salem or anyone else (to start with anyway) so i'm sure that will come as quite the surprise to many of you. Oh and this chapter only explains about half of the future story so... Yeah, don't think that's it.**

 **All that aside let's move onto the reviews…**

 **TheMAO17** **:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **In regards to the reactor... whatever i say will be a spoiler so im afraid you'll have to wait.**

 **Yes your completely right that whatever future Ruby does in the past will have no bearing to her timeline. But unlike Trunks in dragon Ball Z Ruby isn't really doing it to fix everything, sure shes gonna change a lot of stuff, but it mostly comes down to her wanting to survive and see her friends again. Her timeline is dead, no real point in trying to change anything there. And haha what makes you think Solus will save the world? the irony is quite strong there.**

 **Sorry but to have young Ruby fall for Solus and for him to reciprocate the feelings just wasn't gonna happen, she is still very much an annoying 15 year old child.**

 **She is 25 give or take 3 years either way, her age will remain pretty vague since even she doesn't exactly know anymore.**

 **Drakefire26:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Haha maybe, she and Solus might share a drink or two.**

 **Guest:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Thanks man! I try my hardest.**

 **Smithrooks**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Your exactly right my friend, picking a side in the conflict is rather moot considering both did things the other considers 'evil'. Something i always try to impress upon people that read my work is that "right" and "wrong" are based entirely on perspective, from the respective point of views of Solus and Shirou they thought they were in the right and the other in the wrong.**

 **Yeah, the meeting between Cinder and Mortem was long overdue in my opinion, although considering how powerful she is i'd say that Mortem turned out quite well in that fight. And you would be wise to believe she survived, her story is far from over. Both her past and present will be fleshed out later.**

 **And yeah, young Ruby isnt the right fit for Solus, too idealistic and foolishly naive. Future Ruby was always going to be the pairing, you may have already noticed that she is in some areas starkly different to young Ruby. But hey, you'll see more soon.**

* * *

 **Anyway feel free to PM me or better yet leave a review cause that's always nice.**

 **Leave a review!**


	37. Fires of Damnation

Edge of Life

Chapter Thirty Six

Fires of Damnation

Solus snapped out of the torturous memory with a gasp, a blinding headache seared across his mind.

A small monitor on the wall was playing through the memory, Shirou Schnee watched with rapt the memory came to an end the man turned to Solus who was hanging low in his chains "it seems the memory has cut off" the rich man stated "it would appear that your mind needs more 'encouragement'"

With the press of a button lightning surged through the chains and blinding pain coursed through the battered mercs body.

"Soon" Shirou purred as the man before him suffered "soon you will understand my pain"

Solus roared in agony as the energy ran through his body, muscles spasmed and his skin began to smoke as the pain became too great for him. Tears of pain and humiliation worked their way down his face, it was too much, the agony was to powerful…

But then it began in earnest, the crown like device atop his head glowed as it was activated and began digging its way back into his mind. It painfully sifted through all the memories of his wasted life until it found the one it was looking for, with a agonising spike of pain that totally eclipsed the previous pain Solus was thrown back into the memory.

 _The room he was in was some kind of reactor control center, the many computer screens were all displaying the same thing however. In bold red letters that covered their respective screens the words '_ _ **WARNING CRITICAL MELTDOWN IMMINENT**_ _'_

 _He didn't know what to do, had the fight caused this? With as much haste as his fatigued body could muster the merc moved towards the primary control panel and dragged himself into a position where he could interface with the computer._

"Your scum! Let the reactor explode, you deserve far worse!" _the voice of his younger self screamed at him._

 _Jaune Mortem paused, what should he do? The voice of his younger self compelled him to let the massive power source detonate, the will of the director demanded that he do whatever is necessary to survive. He couldn't just-_

"The reactor you fool!" _his own current voice yelled at him internally._

 _Argentum Arc snapped out of his thoughts when his darker half brought him back to the present. Okay… he could do this… he just had to find the source of the problem then work from there._

 _Fully aware of the extremely limited time Jaune ran a full diagnostic on the reactor and the surrounding facility. Within moments the computer screen was flooded with status reports and various other files detailing things the computer had picked up on._

 _Mortem flicked through the reports, growing ever more concerned as the facility began to shake with hardly restrained energy_ _that was soon to be released. The first few files indicated that many walls and support pillars had been damaged or outright destroyed, but Arc quickly moved on from those, they were a slight concern but hardly important to the stable functioning of the reactor itself._

 _Something wasn't right… aside from the obviously damaged walls and the imminent detonation of the reactor there was… nothing wrong at all. The computer clearly stated that there was a containment breach that was building in energy and would soon explode, but there was no good reason for it. The fight between himself and Cinder apparently had nothing to do with the imminent release of energy._

 _But that couldn't be right, franticly Jaune looked through the status reports of the containment measures. They indicated that the explosion was about to happen and they had failed but it wouldn't give any reason why. With utterly terrified hands Argentum flickered over to the reports of the ventilation shafts that ran out into the rest of the kingdom, maybe they were somehow blocked and were causing this…_

 _But that wasn't the case either, the computer indicated that the vents were operating at full capacity and that they were just not in… use…_

 _Motherfucker._

 _All the energy and heat were just building up in the reactor without being channeled out and distributed anywhere, that was insane! For some reason the vents had never been opened! Just looking at the reactor Mortem could tell that they were never MEANT to opened either! This… this place was a death trap! It wasn't a reactor at all! It was never meant to be, it was a huge fucking bomb!_

 _And he was right in the middle of it!_

 _What… the fuck could he do!? Both his younger half and his more current side were screaming at him to do something but the alarms and the violent shudders the base was giving off blocked them out, for the most part anyway._

 _Seriously what the fuck was he meant to do?! If the bomb went off it would absolutely destroy the primary city of Vacuo, and there was absolutely no fucking chance he would survive. If he was doing the math correctly then the detonation would be somewhere around 50 fucking megatonnes!_

 _That means there would be a fire ball over kilometers in diameter, thats basicly 5 fucking miles of pure unadulterated thermonuclear rage! The rest of the destruction would be in the massive fucking shockwave that would likely still be felt over a hundred fucking kilometers away!_

 _In short, Jaune Mortem was absolutely screwed._

 _The ideals of the director screamed at him to find a way to survive, something, ANYTHING that would allow him to live._

 _Idly the thought of climbing into a nearby fridge passed through his mind but that was quickly dismissed as a really stupid idea._

 _There had to be something, the alarms were blaring that the explosion was gonna happen sometime within the next two minutes or so. Come on there had to be something, his mind was working at a mile a minute coming up with convoluted ideas to survive and somehow get the hell out of dodge._

 _And his younger half demanded that he find a way to save everyone, as an Arc it was his duty to find a way to save as many lives as possible. The 50,000 permanent residents of Vacuo city were his top priority and therefore their lives came first._

 _No! His priority was his own survival and nothing more! The people of the city were irrelevant in the face of his own death, he needed to find a way to avert the explosion somehow. There had to be a way he could divert the detonation somewhere else…_

 _The vents!_

 _He could use the vents to divert the majority of the explosion outside the city, granted it would kill anyone outside the city but at least he would survive!_

 _NO NO NO NO how could he think that!? He couldn't abandon others just so he could survive! That wasn't the Arc way! There had to be another way! Perhaps someway to contain the explosion just to the facility…_

 _But there wasn't time! He needed to choose now! The majority of his mind demanded that he allow the explosion to go off in the city and kill himself, but the nagging words and commands of the director told him to divert the explosion into the rest of the kingdom._

 _But… but Kira was out there! She was on a job outside the city doing some kind of private assassination! He… he couldn't kill her! She was his love, his life. She had saved him so many times, she had shown him the love that he could never fully describe to anyone. She was far, far more important to him than his own life. As long as she survived Mortem knew he would die content._

 _With his mind made up Jaune swiftly descended onto the controls that would contain the explosion within the city._

 _He typed furiously on the little keyboard to seal the vents and kill himself… but something was wrong._

 _His already tormented mind screamed in agony as the will and indoctrination of the director made itself known once again. "Survival, no matter the cost"_

 _It hurt, oh god it hurt so bad. The implanted suggestion of the director wouldn't allow him to kill himself, with compulsion was far too strong for that. Mortem struggled with all his might to ignore the demand but he could feel the years of brainwashing taking control._

 _His muscles twitched and spasmed as he fought himself, he physically tried to move away from the computer so he wouldn't open the vents. But the effort was in vain the powerful will of both the director and his own Argentum Mortem personality demanded that he survive._

 _To his complete horror and utter dread and panic Jaune couldn't stop himself from opening the vents and diverting the raw power and energy of the 'reactor' outside the city._

" _NO!" Jaune screamed as the energy was funneled out of the city and towards Kira._

 _This couldn't be happening, this can't be happening…. He and Kira were supposed to live forever! This was unfair! Why did it have to happen to him?! Why did he and Kira have to suffer!? It wasn't fair!_

 _In fury he lashed out and smashed the computer with his fists, the metal gave and bent easily to his might but the damage caused did nothing to calm him, again and again he hit the machine until it was little more than a twisted smoldering hulk of a ruin that didn't even resemble the computer it had once been._

 _Fury gave way to desperation when he felt the ground begin to rumble beneath his feet, in haste that he would likely never achieve ever again Mortem used his scroll to call Kira, maybe if he could warn her…_

 _The line connected and he was rewarded with her calm and soothing voice "13? What is it? I'm rather busy."_

" _KIRA LISTEN TO ME YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF THERE-" he screamed as quickly as he possibly could, but was cut off when the line suddenly went dead and was replaced with static._

 _A massive rumbling earthquake signified that detonation has occurred. The reactor facility rumbled violently and shook itself to pieces, the entire city was scorched in blinding heat, nothing compared to the heat outside the walls but still enough to cause 3rd degree burns if they were outdoors._

 _Glass shattered, the ground quaked with force that knocked people off their feet and shattered buildings. Lives were lost by the tens of thousands as everything outside the primary walls were bathed in hellish fires and radiation that would burn for decades._

 _Jaune Mortem was buried under tonnes of stone and metal as the facility shook itself apart around him. Among the many thoughts of grief and utter sorrow that the broken merc felt one thing BURNED with such raging fury that kept him aware and awake under the broken base._

 _The Schnee family had built this place, THEY had done this! THEY had killed thousands! THEY had killed Kira!_

 _He… he would kill them, he would burn them! They were responsible for this! So they would die for this!_

 _But it wasn't just them, oh no. Atlas had helped, they would die too, they would ALL die!_

Solus slumped as the memory ended, his greatest failure. His worst sin.

It was all his fault…

* * *

The three girls of team RSYB were all stuffed inside their stolen Bullhead, the craft had only moments ago lifted off from the ground shakily. Their newest... acquaintance stepped back into the main cabin with a woefully nostalgic look on her face, the elder Ruby's silver eyes flickered over her past teammates as she said "I put the Bullhead on autopilot so we could talk some more."

The girls bobbed their heads in acceptance, but it was the younger Ruby that spoke up first "what are we supposed to call you?"

The elder Ruby looked at her younger self with slight trepidation "what's wrong with calling me Ruby?"

The younger girl replied without hesitation "but i'm Ruby"

"We're both Ruby, we're the same person."

At this point Blake interjected "are you really though? A person is crafted by their experiences, and you obviously aren't the same as our Ruby."

The elder Ruby didn't show it but she was deeply hurt by what her former teammate had said, of course she was Ruby how could she not be? She had lived through all the same things her younger self had and much much more! If anything the younger version should get the new name!

But she knew it wouldn't be like that, to them she was a stranger, an outsider that they had only just met. It was unfair, to her they were dear friends whom she had fought through the apocalypse with. But she had learnt long ago that life wasn't fair…

"Fine" the elder Ruby relented, hiding her angst "what do you want to call me?"

"How about for now we just call you Rose?" Yang suggested.

 _Rose. outsider. Not Ruby, not sister or friend_. Her thoughts betrayed the newly dubbed Rose, life just kept getting crueller it seemed.

"Right well… we have some time to kill before we arrive, so let me explain what happened next." Rose said, her silver eyes boring into the eyes of her past teammates "after Iota began annihilating the legion of Atlas troops sent to quell the disturbance we were forced to retreat lest Weiss bleed out from her injury."

"We returned to Beacon and everything seemed calm for a few days, in that time we weren't given much information on what had happened after our escape but then about a week or two later new started coming in around Vacuo of a man with god-like power destroying all the re-settlement efforts. We knew straight away that it was Solus, we begged Ozpin to allow us to go after him, but he refused saying that the Hunters of Vacuo would deal with the threat accordingly."

Rose's expression melted into a strange cross between sorrow and acceptance "how very wrong he was."

"After only two weeks Vacuo called out for aid from the other kingdoms, Solus had decimated the desert kingdom once more and was now moving on the capital. By that point he had killed every hunter they had sent after him, and worse still he seemed fully capable of blowing the city away with his gauntlets."

"How the hell did you stop him?" Yang interjected quickly.

Rose glared at her… younger… sister for interrupting "we didn't stop him, never could, even in the end."

The three younger girls shared a glance at that, if he couldn't be stopped then how the hell did she make it back here?

"Hunters and Military from every Kingdom rallied to the call for help, Atlas was placed temporarily in charge because of their superior technology and manpower but in the end we barely slowed him down."

"After days of head on attacks with full legions of hunters our numbers began to thin out, even Atlas was losing too many troops to properly mount an offensive anymore. We resorted to diversionary tactics so we could evacuate as many people from the city as possible… but it wasn't enough. Eventually he reached the top of the mountain that overlooked the city, his laughter could be heard for miles all around, after a very brief scuffle with the last people that dared oppose him he used his power to destroy the city."

The three girls mouths were open in shock and horror "h-how many people made in out in time?"

"Not enough" Rose replied, not at all shaken by repeating what amounted to a good day to her "thousands of people were still in the city, and at least half of the remaining hunter population as well. In a single moment Sigma had wiped an entire Kingdom off the map."

"Among many others that died Pyrrha Nikos and a good chunk of the Beacon staff were still in the City, they died instantly. We only just escaped in time ourselves, My Blake and Yang were on a different Bullhead then me but we were all still close enough to feel the heat of the blast, the shockwave."

"After that J-" Rose pause, catching herself before she let slip his true name "Solus vanished for awhile, probably to regain his energy and rest from weeks of carnage. The next target of his anger was Mistral, unlike Vacuo they didn't waste anytime calling for help from Vale and Atlas… but this time no-one came. Both Atlas and Vale had decided that if the 'mad king' as he was called was attempting to wipe away civilization then they were going to prepare on their own."

"What?!" Yang cried, outraged "they wouldn't! Surely they would have known that they had to work together to beat him!"

Rose snorted at Yang ignorance "it's a dog eat dog world out there Yang, the council's knew this and decided to try to save themselves rather than waste resources on a futile effort to save Mistral." her silver gaze shifted to Blake, her eyes held the slightest twinge of resentment "about six months into the siege Blake ran away to Mistral, on some fool's quest to try and help. It wasn't until years later that I found your twisted and mangled bones amongst a field of other corpses."

The three younger girls looked suitably outraged at what Rose had said, how could she think that? That wasn't what the young Ruby had always been taught to believe in.

"Unlike Vacuo Mistral took the better part of a year to finally fall, they lasted much longer because unlike Vacuo they still had access to a significant amount of major resources. They actually managed to push him back quite a few times by detonating massive warheads right in his face, it never truly injured Solus but it was enough to make Delta think things through a bit more."

"In that time Vale became a military state and enforced conscription for Hunter and Shocktroop training for everyone over the age of 10, Atlas did the same but they spent a huge amount of time working on more advanced weaponry and technology to defeat Solus."

"After the destruction of Mistral he vanished for awhile again… but he soon re-appeared in Atlas. What followed was the single greatest mistake of the war, beyond anything else we did _that_ was the single biggest regret everybody in government had."

"What?" Ruby asked apprehensively "what did they do?"

Rose sighed, her eyes clouded with old and painful memories "Atlas used a prototype weapon called a Nuke that had roughly 250 kilotons of explosive force, they dropped the weapon right on his face and hoped for the best. At first it seemed that it had worked too, for the first time since he changed Solus was actually hurt. He was so badly burned that we struggled to recognize him, and his body so badly damaged that he could hardly be considered alive."

"We thought we had won, the the war was over. But in truth he survived, after 3 years of him gone Omega came back. But now he was… far far more powerful. Something had changed, he was bigger, had two eyes again… and when Atlas dropped another nuke on him he just laughed."

She knew what he had done of course, years later she had discovered that to repair his body he had gotten the full upgrade from that blasted Director. With all the aura amps inserted into his body as well as a full skeletal and muscular overhaul he went from being a near god-like figure to being death and destruction made flesh. Rose couldn't help but shudder when she thought of the procedure that the director had used to 'upgrade' his subjects, she would have told the others but… it was Solus' secret to tell, not hers.

A beeping from the cockpit alerted the women that they were nearing their destination, Rose quickly moved to the cockpit to confirm it. "Get ready ladies, be have one hell of a battle ahead of us if we want to rescue Solus."

She would do it this time, she would save him. She had too, his power was… required. Without him there would be no hope against the real enemy, she was… just too powerful.

 **A/N**

 **Okay… that chapter was absolutely packed with information… i'm always happy to discuss it with anybody that has questions.**

 **In the meantime let's discuss nuclear physics! Why you ask? Because i think getting some scale pretty important with this kind of thing, words and terms like 'kiloton' and 'megaton' are generally meaningless without some kind of context. Context that i will now give you!**

 **The nuclear warheads dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 4 and 6 kilotons respectively, compared to what we can create today they are positively miniscule. For example the TSAR BOMBA, the largest bomb ever detonated on our planet, was 50 MEGATONS. That's roughly 66 times the strength of the nuke Rose mentioned Atlas used on Solus, even more terrifying is that bomb (the russian one) was designed so it could be retrofitted to be 100 megatons, which is twice the strength of the power of the Reactor that Mortem ruined.**

 **Fun fact, the Tsar Bomba created a fireball 8 kilometers in diameter, which as mentioned earlier by Mortem that is nearly 5 fucking miles of pure unadulterated thermonuclear rage, jesus christ that is not okay…**

 **Now as we should all know the biggest immediate danger of a nuclear bomb going off in of course the explosion, it wrecks shit up. 90% of the stored energy in the bomb is released in one millionth of a second, it is the single most destructive weapon man has ever conceived. Anyway while the 90% of our doom happens immediately thing may seem like the most important problem to worry about since it's generally ruining our hopes and dreams it's really not. The rest of the radioactive material combined with local dust and debris in a raging fireball that rises up into the sky and cools into a recognizable mushroom cloud. This radioactive dust is called fallout, in small bombs like the little boy and the fatman (the ones used to end WW2) the radioactive fallout remains pretty localised since it doesn't travel very high up. Bombs like Tsar bomba and the reactor in Vacuo however shoot the debris so high up that it enters the stratosphere… which is actually a good thing in this case. See the radioactive materials in nuclear fallout are pretty short lived, they mostly die out in about 50 years ish. Most of the immediately hazardous material have even shorter half lives and can even be basicly harmless in a month or two. The really strong bombs that launch their fallout high into the stratosphere that fallout can stay there for years before making it back down to the ground, by then it's dissipated enough that it's mostly harmless. Weaker bombs, like the one Atlas used, maximise the spread of immediately harmful dust and radioactive fallout as these bombs have much shorter mushroom clouds. So those smaller bombs are arguably worse because while the initial explosion is way smaller the levels of deadly ionising radiation are so far higher, so much higher infact that they are able to spread the deadly radiation up to 38 kilometers in only 3 hours. People that are within that sphere of influence are going to suffer from acute radiation poisoning and death. I won't go into the symptoms because they are utterly terrible, but the short and simple version is "your fucked".**

 **Where does that leave us you ask? Well that means that the Vacuo Massacre was infact super fucking deadly and everyone in the kingdom probably has cancer and has like zero chance of ever having kids, Solus included. This also means that without a total population overhaul the entire kingdom is going to eventually fade away until their population is too low to sustain itself.**

 **So good job Solus, you practically destroyed a fourth of all civilised society on Remnant.**

 **And what about the bomb dropped on Solus in the future timeline you ask? Well in short, Atlas practically destroyed a huge chunk of land that won't be habitable for the next 50 ish years, and what did they achieve by doing this? Not a fucking thing.**

 **As you may be able to tell just by reading this chapter and this stupidly long author's note i am absolutely fucking terrified of nuclear weapons, they are so inconceivably nightmarish to me that i sometimes have trouble sleeping at night because due to the mere thought of them.**

 **So… gut chilling horror aside let's take a look at the reviews!**

 **Lord Corvo Attano** **:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Actually his mind is not Alpha, Even in his physical body he was switching between the fragments. The alpha was only ever seen once by Ruby and he is a mesh of all the others, and he was also the most powerful by far.**

 **Guest:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Forgive me but while i have a very basic understanding of spoken Japanese I am utterly incapable of reading it, so is google translate apparently as well baecause this is what it got "** _It is like wisdom that you remember chapter made "war is the fear the courage in the cloakroom," some of the backup from any of the methods good job shadow at the word, but good and come back to this story felt good to see you_

 _Props if you can read this._ **"**

 **So yeah, next time could you please leave a review in a language I understand?**

 **Smithrooks:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **So yeah the number 1 power I was hinting at was** _ **arguably**_ **Solus. And with some old Arc family power thrown in the mix along with a healthy dose of insanity we have Future Solus. As for future Ruby yes she did indeed meet the other AI, including Summer, Kira and the Director. That will be expanded on in much greater detail later but for now I'd say that it is safe to assume that future Ruby knows the full story of Solus' life. Oh and yeah I won't be calling her "future Ruby" for the rest of the story, for the most part she will go by "Rose". Even by this chapter i think the character differences are becoming slightly more pronounced, with Rose being far more callous than Ruby and the others.**

 **I tried to make the early timeline pretty clear, because it will get pretty confusing in the next few chapters... and it will also become starkly apparent that despite similar appearances Ruby and Rose are very different people, with Rose being pretty jaded compared to the pure idealism of Ruby. The reasons for this will become clear when the "destructive force" that Sigma mentioned is brought up, I won't say who it is but "she" is going to be the primary antagonist for the rest of the story. Although I think we all know at this point that the future timeline didn't end well for anybody, Solus and antagonist included.**

 **Thanks for the advise, i'm always happy to get some constructive criticism about my writing. Most people either just leave nothing but cruel comments or something like "this is great!" which is very nice... but not very helpful. So if you ever notice something I could do better or just haven't done at all please feel free to shoot me a message and give some advise.**

* * *

 **As always feel free to send me a PM or better yet leave a review!**


	38. Red Snow

Edge of Life

Chapter Thirty Seven

Red Snow

He knew he had spent his life being an amoral scumbag, from an intellectual point of view he knew that he had spent his life ruining and hurting others. He knew that most of his actions had been terribly detrimental to society and had been utterly selfish. He also knew that he had caused _so much_ pain to everyone around him for years…

But when faced with a totally deserved punishment like what Shirou Schnee had been giving him for the past few hours Solus was completely and utterly afraid.

It wasn't fair for all his victims he knew, most of them had cried and begged for mercy if they had the chance. But Solus knew that he shouldn't have the right to beg forgiveness or mercy, he had after all, never shown any.

All the fight had left the mercs body after just a few hours, to him it felt like days, weeks even. He was slumped down in his chains with his face and eye never raising to see his captor, said captor seemed extremely pleased with himself as he continually electrified the chains and tore out Solus' memories.

"Ah my sweet Mortem I do so love it when you're happy here" the man said with a smile on his face.

Solus didn't move an inch, not that he could anyway, instead he remained face down and silent, awaiting the anguish and pain.

"I think we will finally get to the long awaited moment this time," the man continued, not missing a beat at the silence "Proof that it was in fact you that killed my wife and daughter."

Silence.

"Your silence is telling you know." hardly a second after he finished speaking the chains holding the merc in place seared with deadly bolts of energy.

Solus didn't scream this time, his throat was already far too gone for him to do that anymore, instead a pitiful moan of agony slipped past his lips.

But the short pain of the chains were nothing compared to the pain of the crown like device that soon began burrowing its way into his mind, clawing away at his thoughts and memories.

 _This was it, his chance, is only hope._

 _He… he had to kill them. It was the only way. The Schnee family had… caused the explosion, killed Kira, made the voices come…_

"YES!" _his younger voice screamed and raged "_ THEY DID THIS!"

 _Jaune Mortem whimpered within his helmet, the noise was thankfully muffled due to the heavy armour. It wouldn't do to get caught this early after all._

 _The bomb had gone off days ago, in that time Argentum Arc had been forced to retreat to Vale to get his armour and body fixed. Nothing quite describes the revulsion he had felt when he set foot in the facility of the late director, and how wrong it felt to wear the armour of a mass murderer._

 _It… was sickening._

 _But despite his horror at what he had done all of him knew that the Schnee family needed to go. They needed to die, their blight upon Remnant would end. Today._

 _The Silver behemoth had waited for the right moment to strike, the Schnee family had called an emergency press conference almost immediately after the reactor had exploded they had to save their reputation and assure the public that it was anything but their fault that it had gone critical._

 _Mortem had silently infiltrated the Schnee headquarters where the conference was to be held, perhaps infiltrated wasn't the right word. In reality he had just climbed the wall and sat on the roof near the courtyard where they would spout their lies._

 _And they had just begun too. Soon he would have his revenge…_

 _Shirou Schnee stood at a podium before a crowd of about 50 people, he was surrounded by bodyguards and his voice boomed over the assembled audience. In the front rows were the rest of the blasted family, three women one of which was obviously the mother of the girls beside her. The eldest woman was obviously not a Schnee by birth as her hair was not the trademark snow white that all Schnee children were born with, instead this woman had pale blonde hair and sharp angular features that gave her a harsh look. Mortem knew of the woman, formerly known as Jane Cobalt, now known as Jane Schnee. She had a reputation for being an extremely skilled huntress that was highly skilled at using her thin multi-action dust rapier to massacre her opponents._

 _The two younger girls sat either side of her, the younger one looked to be about Mortems own age if not a fraction younger, there was nothing particularly remarkable about her. The elder looking girl was quite obviously older than Jaune was and was either a huntress or training to be one judging by the saber she had holstered on her hip._

 _Mortem would kill them. Kill them all for what they had done. They deserved no less._

 _Shirou Schnee continued to speak about what a great tragedy the explosion had been, and how the Schnee family would do everything within their power to aid the survivors as well as rebuild the decimated kingdom._

 _Mortem didn't care for the pretty words of the liar, he had done this, and he would die for this._

"Yes kill him…" _his own mechanical voice whispered within his mind_ "kill him now…"

 _Oh gods the pain… it hurt so bad. The voices were tearing him apart, their screams and whispers never stopped._

"They are a stain!" _his younger voice cried_ "you are a monster, kill them!"

 _Mortem whimpered but obeyed, he leapt from his hiding spot atop the roof and into the crowd of people. The ground shook with the force of his heavy armour meeting the cobbled stone hard, the people around him scattered with a scream of fright and surprise, quickly their reactions became that of terror upon recognizing exactly who he was._

 _Argentum Arc Stood to his full height at almost 7'6 and towered over the peons that ran from him. But the bounty hunter's eyes were locked only on the form on Shirou whom had been pushed behind his bodyguards. Without a moment of hesitation Mortem raised his hands and shot a blast of his aura towards the man he hated the most in the world, but a second before the attack could kill the man a wall of thick ice appeared and blocked the explosion._

 _Fury at seeing justice denied surged through his veins, he was seeing red when his twin blue eyes focused on the form of Jane Schnee with her thin sword raised threateningly in his direction._

 _This… this whore dare defy him?!_

 _In an instant Mortem was upon the woman, his right hand closed into a fist ready to smash her into a paste. Just before the deadly attack could connect to its intended target the woman dodged nimbly and attempted to jam her sword in his throat._

 _A fraction of a second before the fatal attack could land Mortem yanked his head back and the blade sailed past him with a whoosh of displaced air. The freelancer lashed out with his leg to kick the woman but she was too fast, she flipped over the attack and over Mortem himself and before he could spin around she jabbed him in the back with her sword._

 _The blade must have been coated with dust because the moment in came into contact with him he was sent flying away due to the small explosion. He rolled a few times and came to a stop just before a decorative pond. Quickly he rose to his feet and glared at the disgusting Schnee that stood across the courtyard._

 _His rage rose to new heights when he realised that she was distracting him from his true goal of killing Shirou, he needed to end this fight as quickly as possible lest his target escape and go into hiding._

 _With a growl he lunged at the woman, she leapt backwards to avoid his attack but was caught off guard when he just continued through and his fist crashed into her face. She sailed back even further and collided with the wall, her body was deeply buried in the stone but Mortem wasn't done. With scream of hatred he yanked her out of the wall and threw her to the ground with all his might. The ground cracked in a spider web like pattern as her face collided with it._

 _Jaune didn't waste a moment, he left the woman where she was and ran toward where Shirou was being ushered away by his guards. Mortem grinned in triumph as he drew closer to his target, only a few moments away from his revenge…_

 _But as he reached out to crush the life from the evil man a thick wall of ice closed around him, trapping the bounty hunter in place._

" _You stay away from my father" the younger of the two daughters said as she moved between her father and the freelancer._

" _Foolish girl." he all but screamed in her face._

 _Soon under his impressive strength the ice began to crack and break away. The girl seemed to realise this and spun her own little sword around to conjure more ice but she was too late as the prison holding Mortem finally broke away and his hand lashed out and grabbed the girl around the face with his massive hand._

 _She cried out and struggled against his might, she even tried to stab him with her sword but the effort was futile because the thin blade just bounced off the heavy power armour._

 _Moments away from crushing the pathetic little girls skull a sudden pain in his head made him drop the girl to the ground. The voices were screaming at him again._

"STOP WASTING TIME AND KILL THEM ALL!" _his own voice cried out in fury._

"KILL HIM! KILL HIM NOW!" _the voice of his younger self screamed._

 _The pain clouded his vision, it was so real, so intense "STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT" he screamed as he bashed his hands against his helmet in some vain attempt to rid himself of the voices._

" _Enough!" a yell of anger came behind him._

 _The voices quieted down to Jaunes great relief, he turned to face the Jane Schnee. The woman looked positively furious, she had a small dribble of blood running down the side of her face and Argentum could feel the murderous vibe oozing from the woman's frame._

 _Mortem grinned in anticipation and was rewarded when she dashed at him in her blind fury, the Bounty hunter quickly reacted and caught her sword before it could be jammed into his throat. But he had to let go of the blade quickly because it was glowing red with heat, the blade scraped against his chest plate and left a shallow gouge about 5 mm deep._

 _Mortem quickly backhanded the woman across the face with all his might and she was quickly sent to the ground with a thump but she was at him again in an instant, spinning from her position on the ground and slashing at his legs. The blade, still coated in dust, scratched across his armour with a shower of sparks and left a slight gouge in the metal._

 _Mortem was undeterred though, with hardly a moment wasted he attempted to stomp the troublesome woman. She moved at the last moment and pushed away onto her feet about a meter away, before Mortem could react she lashed out with her rapier towards his face. If he hadn't been wearing a helmet he likely would have died instantly because the red hot blade sliced through the front of the minotaur shaped helmet like it was butter._

 _Luckily for Mortem though the blade had missed his face just barely and now his right eye was just visible through the ruined metal, the deep blue of his single visible eye shined with hatred directed to the woman before him, hatred so deeply rooted that any lesser person would qwail under such an intense stare._

 _But Jane Schnee was not such a person._

 _Without missing a beat the woman flicked through the dust canisters on her sword until she came to a glowing yellow substance. She did this all in a fraction of a second, and without wasting anymore time yellow arcs of electricity danced up her blade as she horizontally slashed across the freelancers chest._

 _Jaunes body convulsed in extreme pain as the energy ran through his system, but he quickly regained control of himself and jumped backwards and away from the woman causing him the pain._

" _You call that power?" he asked with fury colouring his words, his visible eye shining with hatred._

 _He didn't wait for an answer, the moment he finished speaking his hands shot up and blue arcs of lightning burst forth from his gauntlets. The effect wasn't quite what he was hoping for, instead of being immediately overcome with the power Jane raised her sword and caught the lightning with her blade. A few arcs of the deadly power lanced off and hit the ground around her but most of the energy was being contained by the rapier in the Schnee girls hands._

 _Mortem pushed more power into the attack, the woman visibly staggered back with a grimace crossing her features as she struggled to contain the energy._

 _Mortem advanced slowly, all the while ignoring the flashing warning signs blaring across what remained of his helmets heads up display. He completely ignored the warnings about power getting low and he just continued to pour in more energy._

 _Slowly he crept up to the woman as lightning poured out of his hands, a savage grin crossed his features when she staggered back even further and she looked away as she struggled with all her might to contain the power._

 _But then something happened, she turned her head back to face him. Her eyes were like steel, her will resolute and showing nothing but calm cold fury._

 _Somehow, beyond all reasoning the power started to become too much. The grin slid of Argentums face as the build up exploded between the two combatants blasting them back to either side of the courtyard._

 _Jaune blacked out for a moment when he hit the wall, but when he came to the voices were screaming at him, demanding that he wake up and finish the job._

 _He looked out across the courtyard, Jane was laying unconscious and slumped against the wall with a slowly expanding pool of blood surrounding her._

 _That could wait, he could finish her in a moment. Because for whatever twisted reason the rest of the Schnee family was still in the courtyard, they had watched the fight and were now looking on in absolute horror as Mortem rose to his feet._

 _His armour was blackened and scorched by the explosion, deep gouges showed where the Schnee matriarchs sword had cut. And on his helmet there was a gaping hole over the right eye, revealing the hate filled blue orb that glared fiercely towards the white haired family._

 _He stalked towards them "you are responsible for what happened in Vacuo, you killed thousands for what?! Money? Power? What did the council offer you Shirou?"_

 _The man in question glared at Jaune "I did no such thing! I only ever did what i had to do for my family!"  
_

 _Mortem stood over the man now, his two daughters were snarling like cornered animals towards the merc, hate strewn across their feminine features._

" _For family? I had family too…" Mortem said slowly "but then you had to kill her, you killed my family with that cursed bomb… and for that I will kill YOUR family. And you will WATCH!"_

 _Before any of the Schnee's could properly react the deranged Arc lashed out with his right hand and grabbed the eldest daughter by the throat. She struggled furiously and even tried to stab him with her saber but the effort was mute as she slowly lost oxygen._

 _The younger girl howled in fury, she pulled out her own sword and attempted to stab Jaune in the exposed section of his face. He yanked his head back just in the nick of time, her blade met nothing but air, but Mortem lashed out with his leg and kicked the girl harshly in the gut and sent her tumbling across the ground._

 _Ignoring Shirou smashing his hands across his chest plate begging him to stop, Mortem loosened his grip on the elder girl just enough for her to beg for mercy and for help._

 _Mortem grinned savagely, there would be no such mercy today._

 _With his free hand he shoved the desperate father to the ground, then in a moment of savage triumph he swung the struggling girl into his other hand and began pulling._

 _Using his chest as a brace Mortem pulled with all his might on the lower half of the girl with his left hand and the top half with his right hand. She screamed in agony and terror as her skin began to tear. Eventually the sound of ripping flesh silenced her screams, her spine made a dozen cracking and popping sounds before there was a final wet sounding pop and her body finally split in two just below her belly button with a messy splatter of blood and guts._

 _The two halves were dropped to the ground with a wet thump as organs spilled out of the terrible tear._

 _Both the younger girl and Shirou let out an anguished cry of "Winter no!" but Mortem didn't care, he reveled in the look of utter pain and despair on Shirou's face._

" _She deserved this" Mortem hissed in glee "as a filthy Schnee she deserved this and much worse"_

 _The Schnee patriarch sobbed tears of emotional agony, but Mortem wasn't done "now for your other daughter… maybe I should remove her eyes first? So she doesn't have to see her dear sweet sister's corpse any longer?"_

 _The man struggled to his feet and attempted to attack Mortem, but the merc just backhanded him to the ground once again "you will watch her die"_

 _Mortem stalked towards the cowering younger girl, absolute terror was written clearly across her features as Mortem drew ever closer. With a flick of his wrist his hidden blade on his right hand extended, the jaggard knife glinted dangerously in the feeble Atlesian sunlight as the merc brought his hand up to remove the girl's left eye first._

 _The blade swung downwards with great force, set in gouging out the ice blue orb, but before the vile deed could be done agony blossomed through Jaunes chest. The pain was so intense that his hand jerked at the last moment the the left slightly and instead of removing the girls eye it left a deep cut just shy of the orb itself._

 _Mortem looked downwards to see what had caused the still present pain and he was rewarded with the sight of a glowing red sword sticking through his chest._

 _The heat emanating from the blade had burnt through his armour and had only missed his heart by a few centimeters. The blade retracted and as Mortem felt the sword being removed he dimly became aware of two things, firstly that the ground had suddenly become much closer, and secondly that Jane had regained consciousness and was extremely angered by the messy death of her eldest daughter._

 _It took Mortem a few moments to realise that he had collapsed to the ground, all he was truly aware of was the blinding pain in his chest and the sound of… drums._

 _Sound of drums._

 _It was so loud, like they were beating inside his ears in a constant_ _boom boom_ _sound that sent blood rushing out of the gaping wound in his chest. It was so loud…_

 _Vaguely Jaune was aware that Jane stood over him with her sword poised for the kill blow, and in some distant recess of his mind he could hear voices. Not just the voices of his own insanity but… memories. Memories of things past, snippets of laughter from stupid jokes as a kid, a fleeting glimpse of a father figure, warm laughter of a loving mother._

 _Was this what death was like?_

 _It was… nice._

 _His mind flashed through his time as a bounty hunter, being an outlaw but still being in regular contact with the councils… fighting at Fort Independence, being labeled a monster, hunting down the survivors of the White fang… the reactor…_

 _Jaune's eyes drifted shut… this was a death he could accept, trying to avenge Kira…_

 _Kira…_

 _No, he wouldn't accept this… Kira wouldn't accept this… if he was gonna die then he would go out standing like a man, not like some…_

 _Weakling._

 _His eyes flashed open in an instant, Jane was about to stab him through the throat to finish it but she hesitated upon seeing his exposed eye snap open._

 _In that moment of hesitation rage filled every pore of subject 13s body, he wouldn't die like this. With speed that seemed unnatural he leant forwards and grabbed the sword his would be killer's hands. A moment later the sword was shattered under the unnatural strength that Jaune now held, Jane could only gape in open mouthed shock at the destruction of her weapon. But her surprise didn't last long, in less than a second Mortem was on his feet again and held her by the throat._

 _Mortems twin blue eyes flashed white as he held the struggling woman in a death grip, his mind completely lost to the fury that ran through his blood. Not once did he acknowledge the warnings that blared through his critically damaged heads up display, nor did he acknowledge that the mini fusion cores that powered the massive armour were depleted and that he was now carrying several tonnes of heavy armour._

 _Not that it made any difference at this point._

 _Just before the Schnee woman lost consciousness he let her go, but before she could collapse to the ground the massive merc booted the elder woman in the ribs and sent her flying._

 _Jane sailed through the air like a rag doll, but before she could crash through any of the walls Mortem was upon her again and caught her mid air by the leg. With a thunderous smash he swung her into the ground, the cobble stone cracked and shuddered with the force but Mortem wasn't done, again and again he smashed her into the ground._

 _Finally after almost 20 seconds of this he dropped her to the ground, Jane was on the verge of passing out and was covered in wounds that freely leaked blood onto her previously pristine attire._

 _But 13 wasn't done yet, just as awareness was fading from her body he reached down and grasped two of her fingers, with a savage grin he wrenched the appendages backwards._

 _Her eyes snapped open as new awareness crashed through her body, but even with this she was unable to do anything when an armoured foot stomped down on her kneecap, shattering it with a sickening crunch._

 _Hysterical laughter seeped from 13s lips, he didn't know why he was laughing he wasn't even in control anymore. His chest heaved and shook with uncontrollable amusement at the suffering of the woman before him, vaguely he noticed her crawling towards the broken shards of her sword but he paid it no mind._

 _He continued to laugh as he stepped towards the crippled woman, his pure white eyes locked in permanent pale horror as he continued to laugh at the suffering he was causing. Slowly he reached down and hoisted his victim up to his eye level by the throat, despite the tremendous pain she was doubtlessly in she spat in defiance and glared at his single visible eye._

" _Now you will join your daughter" Mortem hissed in victory._

 _A vicious bloody smirk twisted the woman's features, she lifted her left hand and showed her murderer her last act of defiance toward him and what he had done "if im going to die, then your gonna join me" she croaked out._

 _In her hand was the dust canisters from her weapon, multiple little jars of red, yellow and blue dust that glowed with hardly restrained energy. Jaune didn't have time to react before it detonated right in front of the gap in his helmet, a sickening pain consumed his world but then everything just… faded away._

 _Blackened darkness consumed his vision, and 13 knew no more._

* * *

Rose and the other girls jumped out of the bullhead and out onto the snow covered landscape before them, there was nothing around for miles but snow and ice. It was an absolute barren wasteland devoid of all life in the north most tip of Remnant.

"Where are we?" Blake questioned between shivering.

"Yeah i'm not seeing any base around here" Yang added as she looked around.

Rose surveyed the area around them, it looked like any other patch of frozen wasteland in Atlas except for one minor detail… where was it… there!

A small distance away there was a small metal crank sticking up out of the snow, visible only due to its dark red colouration.

Rose didn't bother replying to the inane questions of her past teammates, instead she moved towards the small indication of life and grasped it firmly in her small hands. With a slight grunt the handle turned and she lifted the hatch away to reveal a long tunnel downwards and a ladder. "Over here!" she yelled over the winds to her old friends.

Quickly the other girls made their way over to the elder woman, they all shared a look and nodded. Rose went in first, she quickly leapt down the shaft and fell all the way to the bottom, the other girls soon joined her in the darkened room below.

They were greeted with a slightly dark room with a single door at the far side, but they didn't have very long to do much because a series of machine gun turrets popped out of the floor along both sides of the room. The three younger girls launched themselves at the turrets on the left side of the room and began hacking away at the small weapon emplacements, the sounds of battle raged through the confined room as the guns were destroyed one by one.

When the current team RSYB had finished all the turrets on the left side of the room they turned to the right to see how many were left only to see Rose looking quite annoyed at the younger girls "if you're done wasting time can we please hurry up?"

Yang huffed in displeasure while Blake rolled her eyes at the older woman. Ruby was slightly startled at how quickly her counterpart must have dealt with the threat and just nodded dumbly.

With women moved towards the single door and Rose said "be prepared for the guards on the other side, they may not be hunter trained but they are numerous."

The younger women nodded and Rose turned back to the door, with a slight grunt the door was pried open with one of her swords, a hail of bullets rained down on the girls as soon as the door swung open and the three younger girls barely had a second to jump into cover as the twenty or more SDC guards shot at them.

Rose on the other hand did no such thing, instead of jumping into cover she charged forwards and launched herself at her attackers and began hacking into the soft flesh of the human guards.

Upon noticing the fire on them lessening the other girls popped out of cover and attacked the guards themselves, each girl only had the chance to knock out one or two men each before the fight ended. It only took them a moment to feel sick and horrified at the carnage around them once they realised what Rose had done.

The elder woman hadn't outright _killed_ any of them, but she certainly didn't leave things to chance. Strewn across the floor were piles of arms and legs that freely leaked blood onto the formerly pristine white tiles, more than a few of the poor bastards were also trying to hold their own organs within their bodies because there was gaping holes in their guts.

But Rose didn't seem affected by this in the least "okay, this place in pretty small, so Solus should only be just around the corner-"

"What the actual fuck!?" Yang cried out in distress upon seeing the carnage.

Ruby joined in "what is this!? Why would you do that?!"

Rose looked startled "what?" she asked, not understanding the issue "they were in our way, and it's not like I killed them."

"You could have just knocked them out you know" Blake said flatly.

Rose shook her head "waste of time, and they could get back up again. We should keep moving."

Yang and Ruby shook their heads in disgust at their future family member, but like Rose said moved past the gory mess and further down the corridor. Rose took point and for almost 5 minutes they moved in silence, the only noise that broke the quiet was the occasional thrum of unseen generators.

All too soon they came upon a heavy steel door that stood imposingly at the end of a slate grey corridor, the three younger girls stared at the door in trepidation, wondering what they would find on the other side. Rose didn't waste the time however with fluid motions she hacked through the door panel with the greyish black Gambol Shroud of her Blake.

The door fizzled then opened with a hiss, inside was a small room filled with various computers and other high-tech equipment. Rose was the first into the room, in a fraction of a second the only other occupant of the room, a scientist judging from the white coat, was bisected vertically with absolutely no mercy.

By the time the other three had entered the room Rose was already hard at work wiping away all the data on the computers, Rose was quick to disconnect the memory device and erase all information regarding Solus being Argentum Mortem, it wouldn't do to alienate her younger team this early after all.

When the younger girls entered Yang and Ruby immediately gaged upon seeing the corpse of the scientist, unlike the guards before Rose had actually killed this woman and not just maimed her. Their mounting outrage quickly turned to horror when they finally looked up and saw Solus for the first time in weeks.

On the far end of the room was a clear sheet of glass that showed the room beyond, Solus hung from huge metal manacles and was being savagely beaten by a white haired man they recognized as Shirou Schnee.

The three girls ran to the door and tore it open to get into the room, in an instant they had pulled the elder man away and thrown him to the floor.

"NO!" Shirou cried "you don't know what he did! Who he is-

Whatever else he was going to say was cut off when a gleaming silver sword was jammed through his gut by Rose "and they're not going to know" she said as she withdrew the sword with a slick wet sound.

The three younger girls watched in horror and resignation as Shirou fell to his knees, Rose held the sword to his neck and said "Weiss sends her regards" and with one mighty cleave the head was removed.

In a flash of rose petals Rose was at Solus' side, the chains holding him released and he collapsed into her arms with a dull thump. Rose held him close even as the other girls crowded around and asked inane questions like if he was okay.

But Solus' eye never strayed from Rose, his single blue orb shining weakly as he struggled to retain consciousness "Summer?" he rasped weakly.

The effort was too great, the moment the name left his bloodied lips he passed out in Rose's hands, his battered body going limp.

Rose held him tight to her chest, she had him… she had saved Jaune, now for the rest of Remnant.

 **A/N**

 **So this chapter answered a few questions that have been floating around since chapter 1, having an explosion go off in your face does tend to do stuff like that I suppose.**

 **Also we finally learn how Winter died, messy I know but still within his character. What did you guys think of that flash back though? Too much? Or just right?**

 **Anyway let's move onto the reviews…**

 **Nactick:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Thanks man, I always try my hardest with this. And don't worry if you don't have any criticism to say, im happy enough just hearing from my readers.**

 **Nik41:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.  
Hey man how are you? I haven't heard from you in awhile. But i'm all good, a few issues here and there but for the most part i'm doing okay.  
And yeah realism has always been a bit of a sticking point for me, I can understand when things happen because of the in-universe rules but I tend to get pretty annoyed when I read a story that seems to ignore basic levels of realism.  
always a pleasure to speak with you mate, I hope I hear from you again soon.**

 **Lord Corvo Attano:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Ah You'll just have to wait and see wont you? it certainly will be a point of contention but for now I wont elaborate further.**

 **Yeah, before he was broken by Shirou his mind was basically in one piece, then after a year of constant torture he mind broke into several different fragments. Because his mind was also connected to the AI version of him that the director created the AI was also "shattered" into fragments as well. Alpha was the most powerful because he wasn't any single emotion fragment, he was an imperfect mesh of all of them.**

 **I hope that clears things up, if you have any more questions please feel free to ask.**

 **Smithrooks** **:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Yeah I tried to make Rose's basic way of looking at the world clear in the way she spoke to the others, specifically her do or die sort of attitude. And while her viewpoint is certainly the far more realistic one compared to the naive Ruby and Yang it will still be like you say "quite an issue".**

 **So we finally got to the death of Kira, that moment was very important for Jaune as a character, defining even. Up until that point on his life Jaune had basically been everything the director had designed him to be, albeit without guidance. But that moment was major because it finally 'freed' him of the control because he had lost the last major connection to the director. In essence he wasn't subject 13 or Argentum Mortem anymore, not even Jaune Arc but something else entirely.**

 **Or that's how I see it at least.**

 **In regards to why Shirou Schnee would build an undercover bomb... well I won't say because spoilers. But I will say this: everyone wants something, no one is completely above things like greed and jealousy. Not even characters like Ruby.**

 **Thanks for the tips, I went back and corrected the capitalization on the word "bones" and I corrected the errors on all the mis-spelt "Mistral"s I could find. Thanks again for pointing out my mistakes.**

 **.3760:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Um… is there a polite way to say "fuck no"? Because that's the only answer I can give you. Next time i suggest you read slightly more carefully.**

 **Wagner:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Yes next time do leave it in English please. And I disagree, war is when two people don't like each other and decide to drag thousands of other people into their petty arguement.**

* * *

 **Anyway happy mother's day and all that, until next time. Don't forget to leave a review!**


	39. Twisted Reflections

Edge of Life

Chapter Thirty Eight

Twisted Reflections

With a dull thump Rose deposited Solus' unconscious form onto the cold metal floor of the bullhead, with a slight grunt she pulled herself onto the stationary aircraft as well, stepping over the still body of Remnants greatest hope and into the cockpit to start up the engines.

The other girls scrambled onto the aircraft as well, Yang and Ruby quickly pulled Solus up off the floor and into the emergency blankets they had pulled out of the cramped storage compartment. Rose paid this little mind as she skillfully made the metal craft lift off the ground and start its long journey back to Vale and away from the snowy continent of Mantle.

After ensuring that the autopilot was activated Rose bustled back into the main cabin where the reunited team RSYB was. Now Rose was no stranger to hatred and disgust, but the glares and looks of outright disdain she got from Yang and her younger self surprised the elder woman, what had she done to warrant this?

Yang was the first to break the silence "What the hell was that back there? You're a Huntress! Your not meant to go around murdering people!"

Rose raised an eyebrow at that, a huntress? How novel "What makes you think i'm a huntress? I never graduated, none of us did. We couldn't waste our time on pretty little pieces of paper that said we could fight Grimm." Rose paused, her silver eyes locking onto the still form of Solus "news flash Yang, the world isn't sunshine and rainbows. How do you think the kingdoms rose? By killing everything that stood in their way, Grimm or not."

Ruby retorted instantly "But the world doesn't need to be like that anymore! We're better than we were back then!"

Rose snorted in disgust "Better? Hardly, the world you see around you? All a lie, everyone wants something, no one does something for nothing. Greed, envy, jealousy, hate, fear, all these things are in our nature, and no one is above them."

"But that doesn't give you the right!" Yang roared "who made you the judge of what's right and wrong?!"

"Right and wrong?" Rose questioned, her demeanor growing icy "There is no such thing, just different points of view. It took me years to work that out, years and the death of everyone I ever loved. There is no right and wrong, only power and your ability to force it on others."

Blake finally decided to join the conversation "From an intellectual point of view you're right Rose, but from a moralistic point of view what your saying is… dark. What exactly happened to you to make you think this?"

Rose reigned in her temper and spoke lowly "The greatest enemy Remnant ever faced, not Grimm, not Solus. But worse, I spent so long hating her… but then I found out why she did it… and I found that I would have done the same thing."

Yang and Ruby looked about ready to burst a blood vessel, no doubt they thought that Rose was evil or dark or some other nonsense, but Blake was quick to speak again, if only to avoid more arguing. "What exactly do you mean? Who is this threat? How could they be worse than what you have already told us about?"

Rose sighed, her harsh silver eyes slipping off the still angered forms of Yang and Ruby "We'll get to that, first let me continue where we left off from. Atlas dropped a nuke on Solus again and he laughed."

Blake and the still angry sisters nodded.

"Right well, after that Solus had become monstrously more powerful. When he began his assault on Atlas unlike Vacuo and Mistral it didn't take weeks, it took _hours_."

Blakes yellow eyes widened slightly in surprise, how could he have become that much stronger? How the hell could _anyone_ become that powerful? "How… how is that possible?" the cat faunas asked in slight trepidation.

Rose looked pensive for a few moments "At the time we had no idea, most people actually started to believe he was a god, and that he was simply unbeatable. But I digress, after he leveled Atlas he didn't wait this time, he went straight to Vale."

"Of course we tried to fight him, but in about 20 minutes he had obliterated his way through our defences and was in the city. We thought all was lost, we were basically dead. But then… _she_ showed up." the younger girls couldn't help but notice the way Rose spat out the word 'she' as if it were painful to say.

"Who is 'she'?" Ruby asked, previous anger simmering under the surface.

Rose laughed bitterly "At the time we had no idea, but later we knew her as 'The Queen'. That bitch was as crazy as they came… but she was immensely powerful, powerful enough that she could defeat Solus… or so we thought anyway."

"When the Queen arrived it was at the head of a massive army, thousands of hunter trained troops that obeyed her every order without question. At first we thought she had come to save us, to help us defeat Solus and return things to the way they used to be… but she wasn't a savior, she was a conqueror. They killed any that stood in their way and by the time they got to Solus… well let's just say that Vale was a lot smaller."

Rose paused, her silver eyes completely unfocused and lost in memories of a time long since past.

"Up until that point Solus had been flicking through the different fragments, alternating depending on the situation he was in. But then he became Alpha, a mixture of all the fragments. He became even more powerful, strong enough to match the Queen for a short time and even come close to defeating her…"

"But?" Yang pressed "what happened?"

Rose's silver eyes locked onto the still form of Solus, his chest rising and falling slowly in a rhythmic motion. Her eyes never left the freelancers form as she spoke again "But she was just too powerful, they spent _hours_ fighting, right in the middle of Vale too. Alpha decided that if he was going to die, then she would die with him."

"And that was it, one massive suicide bomb later they were both gone and with them went _most_ of Vale. I was one of the last combatants left because I was injured before she arrived, and by sheer dumb luck I was in part of the city that missed the devastation. You probably think this was a good thing, that he was gone… but no, all Solus ever wanted was revenge, he was killing us all to achieve that… but her? She didn't want to kill us, no she wanted to _rule_ us."

The three younger girls shared a look, that just seemed… so unlucky, how had things gone downhill so fast?

"What happened next?" Ruby asked.

"After the death of the Queen her army just… died. Every single one of them just faded away to ash… they weren't people, not Grimm, they were all clones of two _long_ dead teens. And without their master to keep them alive and give them orders… they killed themselves. Every. Single. One."

Rose looked her younger self in the eye, identical silver meeting "With both of them gone and Vale left as the sole remaining settlement we thought we could rebuild… but ironically after years of fighting the new enemy the Grimm became the number 1 problem again. At that point there was only me and four other capable hunters left, the rest had died by either Solus, The Queen or her army. Add on to all that was the fact that the primary walls of the city were basically non-existent by that point."

"How the hell did things go so wrong?" Blake muttered "This… there must be a way to stop it. All of it."

Rose's eyes widened with glee and locked onto Blake "don't you see? We already have" the elder woman seemed to grow very excited "Solus never broke into fragments, thus he will never go on a rampage-"

"But what about The Queen?" Blake asked "She had nothing to do with Solus going insane, so in a few years she'll appear with her army. And we won't be able to stop her without the extra power Solus had in your timeline."

Rose just nodded her head in agreement "Mo we won't be able to stop her… Not if we wait anyway"

"What?" Yang asked "What difference would it make? It's not like we know where she… is… holy shit you know where she is don't you?"

Rose nodded her head "I do, and right now? She is powerful… but i'm stronger"

"What? How could you be stronger?" Ruby asked "I thought she was powerful enough to beat Solus?"

"Yes, if we wait for her to strike first then we have absolutely no hope of fighting back. But right now? She hasn't gathered enough dust to fully complete the ritual and her army is still under construction so to speak."

"Gathered enough dust? Ritual? What do you mean?" Yang asked, completely confused.

Rose eyed her younger/elder sister "Don't you ever watch the news? Listen to the radio?" Yang shook her head "Well over the past few months dust robberies have been going through the roof, that's the Queen's doing. You see, she has lived a _long_ time, in that time she found a way to absorb dust into her body to gain more power."

Blake's eyes widened "And that means…"

"Yeah, the bad guy has several hundred tonnes of weapon grade dust ready to be absorbed. And in my time? She had years to get even more…" Rose paused "That's why if we stop her _now_ before she can absorb any dust we can beat her, create the perfect timeline…"

The younger girls sat in silence, thinking over the words of Rose. Blake completely agreed that it was necessary to end the threat before it became a real problem, it would be doing the world a favour after all. Yang and Ruby on the other hand weren't so sure, was it right to punish someone for something they hadn't actually done yet? Dubious morality aside could they really trust Rose? She had shown herself to be… bad.

"Enough of this for now." Rose said as she moved back into the cockpit "We have a few hours left until we reach our destination, I suggest you all get some rest."

They didn't reply, too lost in their own thoughts…

* * *

Rose set the Bullhead down with a thump, finally they had reached their destination. Not Vale, just outside the border actually. The area was arid and barren, no signs of life at all… the only sign of civilization was the ruined and charred husks that used to compose the buildings of the village of Dorme.

The other girls had drifted off to sleep a few hours ago, and as they hopped out of the Bullhead it took their sleep addled minds a few moments to realize that they weren't in Vale, or anywhere near it for that matter.

"Where are we?" Blake asked "I thought we were headed to Vale?"

"This" Rose gestured around with her arms to the devastated and depressingly dead looking village "is where Solus was born, welcome to Dorme ladies."

The other girls looked around in renewed interest, all of them quickly noting that this place had been dead for years. All the buildings were collapsed and most were burnt and charred beyond recognition "What happened here?" Yang asked as she looked around.

Rose pulled Solus out of the bullhead, tossing him over her shoulder in a fireman's carry "This is a product of the day of black sun, an eclipse about 9 years ago. Solus lived here with his family and only survived because of… well, let's just say that was when he first took steps down a darker path."

"Okay…" Blake said slowly "So why are we here?"

"There's a place nearby, Solus can get proper medical treatment there… But you guys can't come." Rose said as she looked at the girls.

"What?" Ruby asked, her eyes narrowing dangerously "Why can't we come?"

Rose looked at her younger self, fully aware that she was playing it dangerously close to alienating the girl "Because getting into this facility will be hard enough with just me, Solus and the AI. the… inhabitants… aren't the most friendly bunch and I would like to survive the experience."

That raised a few eyebrows.

"If they're hostile are you sure it's wise to bring Solus here?" Blake questioned "If they kill both of you then we're left in the dark…"

Rose snorted in amusement "You misunderstand, they wouldn't _dream_ of hurting Solus. They will just try to kill anyone else, but with the AI I can convince them not to. Hell I suppose you could even say that i'm expected."

Yang opened her mouth to asked what she meant by 'expected' but was cut off when Rose shook her head and said "Let's stop wasting time and move straight to the point, you three need to return to Beacon, from there I will guide you in the steps we need to take before confronting the Queen. There is no time to waste so hurry up and get in the bullhead."

Ruby glared icy daggers at her counterpart, but after a few moments the younger girl relented and gestured for her teammates to get on the waiting aircraft.

"C'mon" Ruby said as her eyes left the form of Rose "we're leaving."

Blake nodded and left towards the bullhead, but Yang wasn't quite so accepting "What?" the blond girl questioned "After all the effort we went to just to save Solus we're gonna leave him with _her_?"

Ruby was having non of it though "Yang!" she snapped "Go. Now."

The elder girl muttered something and shook her head as she made her way towards the Bullhead.

Ruby leveled one last glare towards her elder counterpart "if I find out that you did something to hurt him I'll-"

"Yeah yeah" Rose interrupted "you'll make me pay, I've heard it all before."

Ruby didn't say anything else, she merely nodded and moved away from Rose and towards the bullhead.

Rose waited for the bullhead to be well and truly out of sight before she moved towards the entrance of the directors facility. It wasn't a long walk, only about a kilometer away and even with the added weight of having an unconscious Solus slung over her shoulders didn't slow down her pace.

She was used to carrying dead comrades after all, carrying a living one was something of a novelty at this point.

Soon Rose was outside of the ruined town, the ground was still barren but now there were patches of grass. The contrast was almost startling from what Rose was used to… so much light, so much oxygen.

Her quiet reflections were halted when Rose reached a smallish looking cave, without hesitation she stepped inside and followed the only path for about 20 or so meters in the absolute darkness. After walking in the suffocating blackness Rose came to a stop when a sharp white light snapped to life and illuminated a massive circular metal door.

Rose did nothing, she knew what she had to do for the AI to allow her to enter. All she had to do now was wait…

After a few moments of silence a voice spoke up behind Rose, the quiet and almost gentle voice calmly said "And what would one such as yourself be doing in a dark place such as this hmm?"

Calmly Rose turned around to see a tall woman garbed in the white hooded robes of a priestess, the woman had her hands clasped together and her head bowed as if in prayer. "You're looking well Kira, even if you are dead." Rose said gently.

The hologram of Kira raised her head and lowered her hood, showing a pretty face that was utterly devoid of all emotion "Query: You are not Summer Rose, who are you and why are you here?"

Rose sighed and simply said "I think he would be better at explaining this…" as she was saying this she pulled a small metal device off her belt, in an instant a pale blue projection of a unscarred Solus appeared. He was only about a foot tall and clearly see through.

"Go on Epsilon," Rose said "explain everything to her…"

The small projection of the Epsilon fragment didn't say anything, instead locked eyes with the much more solid looking Kira AI. there was a tense few moments of silence, no one said anything at all.

But soon the shadow of Kira spoke again "disturbed understanding: perhaps it would be best if you were to bring 13 to the medical room Ruby Rose"

The giant metal door slowly opened with a metallic groan, sliding away to reveal a small boxy room with a few computers and cold blue lights.

Rose didn't say anything else, she simply turned away from the still image of Kira and headed further into the facility.

* * *

 _Subject 13 stood in silence, trying to ignore the heavy atmosphere. To his left stood Summer, the elder woman was pointedly ignoring the body of the deceased hunter slumped in the corner of the room. To his right stood subject 8, she looked better than she had a few moments ago, slowly her aura was closing the wounds she had suffered while fighting for her life._

 _The heavy silence was almost stifling but 13 was glad for it, in the few minutes that they had been waiting for Summers comrades she and 8 had traded a few barbed words. Mostly prickly insults and jabs coming from 8 and saddened looks from Summer but it still left the room in an awkward mood that 13 didn't particularly care for._

 _Just as Summer was opening her mouth to say something 2 other Hunters came through the twisted and destroyed door to the arena, both were male and looked very worse for wear with scuffs and cuts decorating their clothes._

 _One of them, a tall man with a thick beard went to say something to Summer but started violently when he saw both 13 and 8 standing nearby "Summer look out you have two of them next to you!" he cried as a machine gun unfolded into his hands_

" _No wait!" Summer yelled as she jumped in front of the children "These ones aren't hostile!"_

 _13 heard 8 snort and mutter something that sounded like "Not yet anyway…"_

 _The male Hunter only grew angry however "Bullshit!" he yelled "All the little monsters in this place are hostile, these ones must be trying to trick you!"_

" _They're just children." Summer said surprisingly calmly "Misguided children that just needed to be shown a little kindness Drake, leave them be." she huffed then said "Besides they said they'd take us to the director"_

 _The Hunter, Drake 13 assumed, sneered but lowered his weapon "Fine, but if this backfires it's on your head Summer."_

 _The red headed woman nodded, her silver eyes hard as she glared at her temporary teammate. But her gaze softened when she turned to look at the children behind her "Okay… can you take us to Braun now? Please"_

 _8 didn't do or say anything still showing her disdain for hunters. But 13 nodded quickly, eager to please the strange woman that had shown him such kindness._

 _13 took the first few steps towards the path to the directors chambers, 8 fell into step along side him quickly and together they made their way towards their master._

 _After almost a full two minutes of walking and ignoring the muttering of the disgruntled Drake they came to a stop outside an unassuming doorway with a red light on it indicating that it was currently locked down tightly._

 _Summer shuffled past the two kids and jammed her sword through the center of the door, after a few moments of wiggling the blade the light shut off and the magnetic locks quickly died._

 _The room they entered was filled with computers and hovering holographic monitors, the lights were somewhat dim but all the newcomers could make out the figure of a thin man sitting in a computer chair with his back facing the doorway._

 _Before they could say anything the man stood slowly and turned to face them, his thinning silver hair stood in sharp contrast to the brownish looking suit that the director wore "You disappoint me subjects 8 and 13" he said in a very light tone of voice "I never predicted that either of you would betray me like this…"_

 _In an instant both subjects were on their knees crying out apologies and promises that something like this would never happen again. But they were cut off when the director said one word "stand"_

 _Quickly they rushed to obey their master, but before anything else could be done Summer stepped forwards "Stanis Braun you have been convicted of numerous crimes, all of which are enough to land you a death sentence-"_

 _Braun waved his hand dismissively "You think that matters anymore?" he said "You think you can scare me with something so small? Well let me tell you little girl, I am much more afraid of_ _ **her**_ _than I am of you."_

 _Drake stepped forwards "I've heard enough," he spat "let's kill this fucker now!"_

 _The elderly director simply sighed "Violence begats violence after all I suppose…" 13 didn't know what that meant, was their master upset?_

" _78?" the man said to seemingly no one "Kill them. Kill them all"_

 _13 didn't even have time to gasp in horror at the directors commands, in an instant he was thrown to the ground due to 8 tackling him to the corner of the room._

 _Chaos broke free only a moment later, out of the shadows stepped the towering figure of subject 78A, the only subject to have received the full upgrade as of yet._

 _Faster than any of the Hunters save Summer could react 78 shot forwards and and backhanded Drake into the other male hunter. Both men crashed to the floor with a crack._

 _78 quickly turned his attention towards Summer to engage her. The redheaded woman hadn't hesitated this time, her silver and red sword was swung downwards to bi-sect 78 but to her surprised horror and shock 78 caught the blade with his left hand and punched her in the face with his right._

 _Because of the monstrous strength given by the upgrades 78 sent Summer flying backwards into the wall, in the process dropping her sword and letting the blade clatter to the ground._

 _Before 78 could do anything else though Drake and the unnamed Hunter started pouring automatic rounds in his general direction, the massive form of 78 was quickly peppered with bullets that harmlessly were absorbed by his aura. 78 quickly turned and sped towards where the two male hunters were shooting from their position on the floor, in an instant the blocky looking assault rifle was wrenched out of Drake's hands and before the hunter could react 78 harshly stomped him in the throat, killing him almost instantly._

 _The other male Hunter let out an anguished cry of "Drake no!" but before he could do much else 78 brought the rifle to bear and just emptied a full clip into his body, not quite killing him but still removing any chance of ever leaving this place._

 _13 and 8 watched this all in morbid fascination, but that quickly turned to horror when 78 turned to face them and brought the rifle to bear ready to kill them._

 _But only moments before the hulking monstrosity could end their lives Summer re-entered the fight and successfully slashed a deep gouge across 78s back. The hulking Subject dropped the rifle with a growl of pain as the red blade raked deeply into his flesh, and only a moment later he spun around and backhanded Summer across the face harshly._

 _Summer was sent tumbling to the ground with a thump and a slight crack. The force of the blow was staggering, strong enough to outright by-pass Summers aura._

 _13 wasn't sure what to do, watching this… he realised he didn't want Summer to die. She was strange and frankly said some silly things but she was also the only person to give him something without expecting anything in return. 78 was going to kill her, no doubt about it… then he was going to kill subject 8 and himself, 13 couldn't allow this to happen. The director had ordered their deaths… but he had also ordered their survival, no matter the cost._

 _So… he would survive, And he would make sure that both Summer and 8 survived as well._

 _All of this flashed through his mind in less than a second, and in an instant he snatched the blocky machine gun off the ground where 78 had dropped it. The weapon had been ineffectual when Drake had used it, but 13 could tell there was some kind of secondary gun function… all he had to do was find it… there!_

 _A switch was flipped and in an instant the gun transformed into a mean looking sniper rifle with the words 'the last thing you never see' etched into the barrel._

" _Hey! Subject 78!" 13 yelled out as hard as he could to try and sound intimidating._

 _It didn't work, but it did have the intended effect._

 _78''s head turned ever so slightly to the side to look at 13 and 8, and that one glance was all 13 needed to deal a crippling blow,_

 _A thunderous bang echoed out from the long barreled sniper rifle, the high caliber round sped through the air and burrowed into its intended target. 13 had aimed for this target specifically because he knew it was one of the only weak points in the massively upgraded body of 78, if he had shot anywhere else… it would have just annoyed the larger subject._

 _But the shot rang true and impacted 78 dead in the middle of the left eye._

 _78 staggered back and clutched his wounded face as blood gushed through the now empty socket. In that instant 8 made her decision too, she thrust out her hand using her semblance and hurled 78 to the far side of the room into a row of computers._

 _Summer had gotten back up just as 8 did this, and in an instant she thrusted her sword in a stabbing motion towards where 78 was and a jet of flame escaped the blade and seared over 78's form._

 _78 flailed around and gurgled as he was immolated on the spot, the flames quickly tore through his remaining aura and in an eventually he collapsed into a heap with the remains of several computers falling on his burning body._

 _The three responsible for this were cut out of their morbid curiosity when the director, whom had been watching the entire fight thus far, gave a painful squeal of agony._

 _The other Hunter, the one 13 had never learnt the name of and 78 had basically but not quite killed, had used the fight as a distraction to crawl his bloody and ruined body over to the director and jam a 6 inch serrated blade into the elder man's chest. The director was flailing and trying to say something but his lungs were obviously filled with blood because all that came out was a wet sounding gurgle._

 _The Hunter was running his bloody hands across a computer and the screen was flashing red, but before Summer or the children could demand to know what he was doing a cool feminine voice said clearly over the intercom "warning a deadly neurotoxin has been released into the base, the termination of all subjects outside of the directors control room will occur in 5 seconds. Have a nice day"_

" _WHAT!?" Summer screeched as she dashed forwards and shoved the dying hunter away from the computer, but the screen was locked and she was unable to do anything, the purge of the base was inevitable now. Upon realising the inevitable she whirled to the hunter that did this "Levi how could you! They were just children!"_

 _Sirens called out through the base as all the subjects died and collapsed to the ground, their last sputtering breaths used to fight for life._

 _Levi, the dying hunter on the ground coughed and a small dribble of blood escaped his lips as he said "I d-did what I had to do…" and with one last choked gasp he slumped to the ground, lifeless._

 _Summer howled in sadness and fury, it wasn't meant to be like this…_

 _13 was about to say something when a sound from behind Summer drew his attention, in the corner where the flames were still burning on 78 the chunks of computer and wall were slowly rising. To the horror of all the living people in the room they saw 78 rise from the flames and shift aside the debris._

 _The fire had burnt away all his skin, all his muscle and flesh were gone and all that remained was the shining metal endoskeleton with a single remaining glowing red eye. His bone like shape was charred and blackened in places, his spinal cord was sitting at an odd angle and the silver metal jaw was firmly clenched with the metal teeth ground tightly together._

 _He was the full upgrade, damaged and now lacking the aura amps and muscle replacements that had been part of his organic form. But in the damaged metal bones there was still enough strength the crush the life out of the 3 other occupants of the room._

 _78 stepped out of the fire slowly, his movements were slow and stilted as he staggered towards Summer, no doubt seeking revenge for his immolation. The single remaining hunter quickly regained her bearings and swung her sword at the metal monstrosity, but the blade barely had any effect, a slight nick in the tungsten but little more. As soon as he was within range 78 reared his fist back and punched Summer harshly in the chest, not quite throwing her to the ground but easily knocking all the air out of her and staggering the woman._

 _13 tried to shoot again but the shot went wide and just barely skimmed the metal frame of 78._

 _78 completely ignored the shot and grabbed Summer by the throat, slowly he pulled the gasping woman up to his eye level and began crushing the life out of her. Summers pained gasps and frantic struggles to break free drew on 13s anger, she was one of two people that had ever been nice to him so he wouldn't allow her to die like this…_

 _With a battle cry 13 charged forwards to attack 78 but as soon as he drew near the elder subject swung his free hand out and backhanded him harshly across the face, 13 spun to the ground and saw stars in his slightly darkened vision._

 _Vaguely 13 was aware of 8 crying out his designation in shock to see if he was okay, but what really captured his attention was 78 turning back to the still choking Summer and plunging his free hand into her chest._

 _With a slick sounding noise 78 retracted his hand and dropped Summer to the ground, a moment of pained gasps then silence, she was dead._

" _No!" 13 cried out in rage, this couldn't be happening, how had it all gone so wrong?_

 _With a feral scream of anger 13 leapt to his feet and charged at 78 again, like last time however he was intercepted by the hard metal fist of the elder subject but this time it was in the gut and 13 crumpled to the ground in agony._

 _13 was unclear on what happened next, the pain in his gut was all consuming and all he was aware of was 78 bearing down on him for a kill blow._

 _The teachings of the director demanded he do whatever possible to save himself though, so with a pained gasp 13 rolled to the side towards where 8 was. Just a moment later the metal foot of 78 stomped down where 13s head had been._

 _That was it, he was done. That roll had been really painful on his battered form, and now he could hardly move without a searing pain shooting across his ribs and abdomen. "8" he rasped "I'm sorry"_

 _But obviously 8 had other ideas, her pale lavender eyes were shining with fury and her little hands were trembling with such rage that 13 was almost hesitant to say or do anything lest he become the focus of such fury._

 _78 drew closer though, and in an instant 8s eyes shot upwards and locked onto the towering subject. Her hands shot out and 13 could_ _ **feel**_ _the wave of power that escaped the girl, 78 was ripped off the floor and hung suspended in the air. The metal frame shuddered for a few moments but under the crushing power of subject 8 began to fold inwards on itself._

 _Dimly 13 became aware that 8 was screaming as she crushed 78 with her mind "NO NO NO!" she yelled "I WON'T LET YOU HURT HIM!"_

 _A second later 78 was little more than a crushed ball of twisted metal than was dropped to the ground._

 _But 13 paid this little mind, as soon as he had gathered the strength to do so he scrambled towards the corpse of Summer. Her silver eyes were glassy and lifeless as she stared endlessly towards the ceiling._

 _But 13 could fix this! He knew he could, the director had once explained the AI creation process to 13. And 13 was sure that if he could get Summer to the Auto Doc in the next few minutes he could save her and make her immortal like him and 8._

 _Franticly he dragged Summers lifeless body towards the medical chambers which was adjacent to the now ruined room they had been in._

" _13?" 8 questioned "what are you doing? She's dead."_

 _13 didn't respond, he was entirely focussed on moving as fast as he could. He quickly stepped over a few bodies of dead subjects and into the medical room. The Auto Doc was just sort of floating there, hovering above the operating table which a now dead subject lay. 13 shoved the corpse off the table and put Summer there, franticly he turned to the machine and said "give her a AI system enhancement!"_

 _The machine just hovered and a cool feminine voice said "Apologies subject 13B only the director can authorise such a procedure"_

" _Commanding statement: do it."  
_

 _13 and 8 whirled around to see the AI version of the director standing behind them, a vicious glint in his eye "Amused anger: it would be most ironic"_

 _13 didn't know what the director had meant by those statements, and he didn't really care. All he knew was the auto doc had begun to work. He didn't turn back to look at the procedure, he knew what was happening and he didn't want to watch it. He knew that the machine was sawing open Summers skull and implanting a small metal device in her brain._

 _Hopefully it would work and Summer would live on, then… he didn't know…_

 _They were all dead, all the subjects, the director too… so… what should he do now?_

 _He didn't know._

Solus' eye snapped open, he was in the medical room of the directors facility. His eye darted around for Summer, she had been the one to rescue him after all, he had seen her, she was alive.

Finally his single blue eye landed on her, dark red hair flowing down her back and ruby red cloak covering her body… but something was wrong.

Silver eyes locked onto his own, she looked… wrong somehow. "Summer" he croaked.

"Jaune" she said.

And in that instant he knew, this woman wasn't Summer.

She… said his name…

Jaune Arc cried.

 **A/N**

 **So I think we all should give** **Smithrooks** **a big thank you, he has been kind enough to give my work honest critique and has helped point out any major mistakes I've made. Without his hard work I doubt this story would have been as good as it is.**

 **So we finally get to the third part of the death of Summer, nasty business. And I have** _ **finally**_ **gotten around to fully showcasing the directors "upgrade" geez thats gross stuff. More so when you think about it and think about the fact that Kira gets the upgrade only a few years after the events of this flash back.**

 **So let's take a look at reviews:**

 **Smithrooks:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Yeah that chapter was a real... killer. Haha self amusement.**

 **Anyway yeah you're right that the way Rose acted has completely put her at odds with the younger girls, what she was doing was... hmm, im not quite sure how to describe it. The best I can think of is 'in character' but that still doesn't quite fit. What I mean is that despite her vastly different life and experiences Rose is still Ruby on some deep down locked away part of her psyche, and like Ruby Rose was brought up believing that to kill another sentient being is evil and that it should never be done. Rose was also raised to believe that people came in two categories: good and evil. In Ruby those views and beliefs are still a center point for her personality. For Rose they are a distant memory of a happier time, something to be admired but from afar but never emulated for fear of failing again. So as to why Rose maimed instead of killing the guards is because of an ill-conceived notion that killing is bad, even if her alternate method is arguably worse. So in the end it comes down to this: 'I didn't kill them, blood loss did.'**

 **Yes your completely correct that Mortem could have killed them if he hadn't wasted time by gloating, it's also a major staple for his character. In almost every confrontation Mortem has been shown in he has been taunting and goading his opponents, to a lesser degree that trait is still visible in Solus but that is tempered by failure. But can you truly blame him for that? he's 15 in that flashback, give any 15 year old that kind of power and they will develop an ego to match it.**

 **That particular method of "shifting the blame" as you call it has always been in the works for her personality, I wanted that Rose remain Ruby but in a very twisted and pale sense. Not unlike how Solus is Jaune, but in a very different way that has been warped by harsh life experiences.**

 **With all the different stages of Jaunes life I wanted to make aspects of his younger personalities and personas visible but in a more subtle sense. The best example of this would be Argentum Mortem and Solus Superstes, Argentum ALWAYS taunted and goaded his opponents (often to the point of it backfiring rather badly) and Solus does still do this, but more often than not he'll just end the fight as soon as possible.**

 **Julini:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Thanks, I try my hardest.**

 **Nik41** **:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Well that is the question isn't it? Weiss in cannon was always depicted as having a mix of disdain and adoration for her father, so one does have to wonder how she'll take the news…**

 **Guest:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Thanks! I always enjoy writing when I get reviews like this.**

* * *

 **So last chapter I only get 4 reviews and for that I am extremely grateful, but please everyone else take the time to leave a review. Over 400 of you read the last chapter but only 4 kind souls commented, reviews are what make me want to write this so if you want to continue reading then I need to see some feedback.**

 **Leave a review!**


	40. Subjective Morality

Edge of Life

Chapter Thirty Nine

Beta: Smithrooks

Subjective Morality

Years of pain and suffering had taught Rose many things, things she had never learnt as a child. When she was young the most important thing in her life had been becoming a huntress and saving people; later that had changed to saving as many people as possible but accepting that not everyone can be helped. After that morality became slightly fickle for her. She wanted to save everyone, she truly did. But when it came to the choice of _who_ to save, that's when things began to get a bit blurred.

So when Weiss had informed Rose that all the crappy things that had happened in the last few years could be avoided… well Rose was at a crossroads. She knew that to save Remnant she would require the aid of Jaune, the very man that had destroyed Remnant in the first place. She had spent years hating him for what he had done, but when she finally found out _why_ he had done it… she found it hard to blame him anymore.

So as her silver eyes locked onto the shaking and shuddering frame of Jaune, or Solus as he called himself, she didn't feel hatred, anger or any other such emotion. She certainly didn't pity him, pitied who he used to be perhaps…

But never what he became.

"Jaune." she said again softly.

He scrambled off the bed he was on; his movements were violent, erratic. Almost fearfully he clambered backwards into the corner of the room, his single eye wide as he stared at Rose in shock and so many other emotions.

Slowly she moved towards him, all her motions gentle and deliberate. "Your name," she said lowly, "that's your name Jaune, don't you remember?"

His single blue eye rolled over her frame in quick succession. "Who are you?" he rasped, his voice hoarse from screaming.

She stopped, her eyes locking onto his maimed face. "Think Jaune, your AI knows who I am. So you do as well."

Rose noticed he was shaking, his whole body shuddering violently with adrenaline. His face lowered for a moment and just for a second the shakes stopped.

Then in an instant he leapt up and towards Rose in a jumping tackle. The woman wasn't quite expecting this but she was still able to catch him mid air. He struggled violently, ripping and tearing at her belt in a vain attempt to grab something.

Only a second later Rose threw him off, but in the process he managed to snag something that clattered to the ground. The moment he hit the ground Jaune scrambled to the small metal object and held it to his eye level.

Rose saw the object and recognized it instantly; it was the small data containment device that held the AI version of Jaune from her time. The small metal box flickered to life and a teal coloured version of Jaune appeared, standing only about a foot tall. Rose recognized the fragment as Gamma, his deceit.

"It's nice to meet you Solus Superstes!" the projection cried. "I've always wanted to meet you, Slayer of Independence!"

Jaune shook the device. "Explain!" he roared, despite his gutted vocal chords. "Why! Why would you come back!?"

Rose watched in silence as Gamma laughed and shook his head. "Your name is subject 13B! Argentum Mortem! Wanderer! Solus Superstes!"

Jaune hissed in fury. "Stop stop stop! I am Solus!" Finally he threw the device away into the far corner of the room.

The small distorted hologram faded and changed colours, this time becoming a deep purple. Still Rose didn't say anything, even as Zeta started whispering curses and accusations quietly.

Jaune finally rounded on Rose, his blue eye shifting between guilt, hate and sadness. "Ruby Rose," he whispered. "What you've done… what I've done… what you came here to accomplish is impossible. I'm not the savior you seek, you know this."

Rose just nodded amicably at the accusation. "We both know you can be, if you choose the right path Jaune."

He shook his head violently, "Stop calling me that! That's not who I am!"

"Yes it is. Your name is Jaune Arc."

With strength that surprised Rose given his weakened state Jaune rammed his fist into the metal wall, creating a perfect indent moulded to his hand. "No…" he whispered, his throat raw.

Rose settled down on the nearby bed, noting how uncomfortable it was. "Your father's name was John Arc, your mother's name was Jane Arc. You were their third child, and they were going to have more but the eclipse-"

"I get it!" Jaune whimpered, "But I'm not him, that boy died with his parents. I am just… a survivor."

Rose nodded, her red hair bobbing up and down gently. "Survivor indeed… but still Jaune Arc, even if you don't like to talk about it."

"Please," the broken man begged, "don't call me that. I hear them in my dreams… the accusations, the hatred…. I'm not an Arc, not anymore."

Rose sighed; she had been afraid of this. Jaune had issues, of that she was fully aware. But most of those issues stemmed from his inability to just accept and move on from the past, and yes she was fully aware of the irony behind a time traveler thinking that about someone.

"Very well," Rose sighed. "More lying for both of us, Rose and Solus it is."

Quiet sobs escaped 'Solus' as he sat in the corner; his hands were covering his face and gentle shakes wracked his frame. "Solus," Rose said quietly, "believe me _I know_. But not now… not yet, you still have a debt to fulfill to Summer, to _Ruby_."

Still sobbing Solus nodded his head weakly, his hands still covering his maimed and ugly face.

"You know what we have to do," Rose continued. "I know where she is…"

"No…" Solus whispered. "First I need to see… my team… and make my peace."

For the first time since Rose had come back into the past she smiled, really smiled. Not a smirk, not a grin, but a full toothy smile. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

* * *

Ruby Rose had never considered herself a patient person; never by any stretch of the imagination had she ever thought of herself like that. Nor had she ever considered herself a master at seeing a person's character, as she had never had any talent when it came to social activity. But when it came to people she knew or had known for a long time… well that was a different story.

Ruby knew herself; years spent in quiet sadness after the death of her mother had gifted Ruby with very good self-awareness.

And if Ruby knew herself, then she should know Rose, right? They were the same person after all…

Ruby wasn't so sure anymore.

Rose was an absolute contradiction to everything Ruby had ever learnt. She was cold, but she was also undoubtedly Ruby. Rose was so different than what Ruby knew herself to be, but at the same time Ruby recognized her own habits within the elder woman. Ruby saw the elder woman, saw who she was, who she could be, and it terrified her.

Because she _was_ Rose.

They were the same person, Ruby could _feel_ it. Their aura was just… so similar! But… it was also so different. Ruby had always been told that her aura was soft and warm when she wasn't in a fight. But Rose's aura was hard, stained by years of suffering and faltering morals. Ruby could feel it; it was actually similar to the aura of Solus. But the aura of her partner had always had this underlying… tiredness to it. A sort of resignation that was difficult to detect under layers of twisted grey shades.

It was confusing.

Ruby had always been gifted when it came to aura, or so her uncle Qrow had told her anyway. She had a great understanding of the functions and uses of it, but her real talent came from her ability to tell where people were on the spectrum of things. Not with everyone mind you, only with people she spent a great deal of time with.

Everyone's aura had its own colour, but the colour would change shade depending on the user's actions and moral compass. If someone was an absolutely evil psychopath then their aura was going to be dark shade of whatever their aura naturally was. If they were considered a wonderful person and a hero then it would be lighter, pale even. The change was actually affected more by people around the user; if someone was _considered_ a hero by everyone around them then their aura was going to be pretty light, and vice versa. Also if the user was mired by guilt or sorrow their aura was going to change, as negative emotions tended to lead to a darker shade.

None of it had any actual bearing on how the person could act though; someone's aura could be absolutely black and they could still go and be a total hero.

So after months of spending time around her teammates she was pretty confident she knew where they were on the spectrum. Yang's aura was an incredibly bright yellow and while there were a few darker shades mixed in it still looked very bright and cheerful.

Blake's aura was… a lightish kind of purple, not like Yang's by any means but still far far lighter than Solus'.

Solus' aura was… different. Most people had one shade of aura, and it would gradually change over time. But not Solus; his aura was stained in multiple different shades of grey and black. To his credit it _was_ getting lighter, very very slowly though. But it was still extremely dark, so dark in fact that Ruby had almost mistaken it for being black at first. But then he killed the Deathstalker and Nevermore during initiation and she saw it, she _felt_ it. What she had thought to be a totally stained soul was… bleeding out countless shades of tormented grey.

But when Ruby had felt Rose's aura… it was very similar to Solus', not in the weird different colours thing. It was still far darker than Ruby had seen in another person except Solus, but the thing that really scared her was the fact that she _was_ Rose.

"Ruby."

Ruby just… couldn't accept that she could become like Rose either. She had killed people, as in actual murder. Ruby could never do that… or that's what she had thought before she had seen Rose kill two people in cold blood when they rescued Solus.

"Ruby, are you listening?"

Ruby snapped to attention, her eyes focusing on the hand snapping its fingers in front of her face.

"Huh?" Ruby so eloquently asked.

Yang sighed, "I was just telling you that we've finally arrived back at Beacon."

Beacon. It felt like weeks since they had stolen a bullhead to go save Solus, but in reality it was little more than two days.

"Well… welcome home I guess?" Ruby asked as she hopped out of the stolen bullhead and looked at the emerald tower in the center of the school.

"Yeah," Blake muttered. "Welcome home…"

* * *

Cinder considered herself a woman of great skill; one did not live as long as she had without a sharp mind and even sharper fighting prowess.

There were a great many things in the world that Cinder hated, too many to fully list them out even. But still Cinder kept her priorities in order; years of misguided hate and lust for revenge had taught her that hate and anger would only carry you so far. It had taken her _decades_ to learn that particular lesson, and many more years to actively put her anger into something that could actually work, a plan that would after _so many_ years of pain and suffering finally let her kill the man that had ruined her life.

"Cinder?" Emerald questioned from nearby. "What are our orders?"

Cinder was seated on a plush chair that was a pleasant red colouration; the chair was in deep contrast with her surroundings though. They were deep underground in her own private facility far away from the prying eyes of the kingdoms. In the small chamber, Cinder sat with the two reminders of her greatest failure: Emerald and Mercury.

The powerful woman didn't reply to the question, her mind rolling over the possibilities and opportunities that could be exploited in the next few days. She had time, she always had time now but Cinder wasn't one to stand idle when action could be taken… but something had changed in the past few days.

Recently a massive energy spike had been detected in the upper polar region of Mantle, and she meant _massive_. Energy levels like that hadn't been detected around Remnant since the bomb in Vacuo had gone off. When the reports first came in Cinder had been expecting a massive crater, another glass desert even.

But instead there was just… nothing.

Follow that with the mysterious death of Shirou Schnee? Remnant was poised on the brink, Cinder could _feel_ it. The brink of what exactly she didn't know, but when you live for well over a century like she had… well you learn to pick up on things.

And there was power… she could feel it, a vague entity that hovered at the edge of perception. Cinder had spent years researching aura and all its uses, and after about half a century she had finally found a way to _sense_ aura. It wasn't like she could detect where people were exactly, but enough that she could feel the aura of others over great distances.

Even now she could feel the aura of her most hated adversary, far away atop his gleaming tower of green. She could feel the aura of LT Commander Ozpin, or Headmaster as everyone seemed to call him now. His aura was white; slivers of grey crept into the edges and oozed into the pale soul of the elder man. She could feel the aura of Ozpin's greatest tool, grey and stained by hardship and subservience.

She could feel the aura of that damned General Ironwood, a pale grey. It was rigid and hard like the man himself. She could feel the aura of the other great powers in the world, some white, some shades of grey.

But all unlike her own.

Until now that is.

This new power… it was so… familiar. Not in the sense that she had ever felt it before, but it was similar to what her own aura had been so many years ago. The twisted layers of black mixed with a deep red. It was extremely powerful, perhaps even as powerful as Cinder herself was now.

But it was also different. Her own aura gently pulsed through her lithe hands as she contemplated the new power. It was startlingly similar to her own, but if Cinder focused on it she could feel an almost _blinding_ light underneath the darkness.

Cinder knew her own aura was absolutely black and would likely stay that way indefinitely, and this new power felt like what Cinder used to be back when she had first started on her quest for revenge. But unlike her all those years ago, this newcomer was epically powerful.

It was a cause for concern.

"Emerald, Mercury," Cinder said to the pale imitations, "a change of plans. Gather the materials for the ritual, I want it ready for use at a moment's notice."

The two teens looked at each other in confusion. "Are we to ready our forces?" Mercury asked as Emerald quickly moved over to a computer and started typing away.

Cinder's blazing eyes locked onto the only male in the room. "No, not yet. This is just an act of caution."

She left it unsaid that she had decided to move up their plans; they didn't need to know that yet.

Emerald finished typing on the small computer and got up. Both teens bowed to Cinder deeply and then quietly made their way out of the room.

Cinder watched them go, her gaze longing as she stared at the two greatest failures of her life. Perhaps in another life, another time, things could have been different. But the time for peace had passed long ago. Soon… she would have her revenge.

Soon, she could finally _burn_ everything he knew and loved. Beacon, the students, Vale… all would be rendered naught but ash under her fury.

And then… she would finally kill him, after 80 years of waiting. She would finally kill Ozpin for what he took from her.

 **A/N**

 **So that was all pretty philosophical and slightly confusing, but it was important. I needed to make one thing perfectly clear: light and dark are just labels, an irrelevant way to demonise those that hurt you. That's why light and dark in this AU aren't determined by your actions… but by what the people around you** _ **think**_ **of your actions. Thus it is entirely irrelevant what you do, your alignment is decided by those that hate you.**

 **Fun I know.**

 **So ignoring my rambling let's see about the reviews (which with the exception of Wagner all my replies will be the same as last week):**

 **dudebladeX:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Yeah Jaune has been… missing… for quite some time hasn't he? It will still be some time however until he is able to totally accept that he is Jaune Arc, as you can no doubt tell he has a lot of issues to work through.**

 **Writen:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **While I'm sad to hear that you wont continue reading I do understand where you're coming from. I admit that it is pretty overdone, but I would like to think that my story is unique in regards to the circumstances of the supposed "savior".**

 **And yeah, don't worry, other stories are in the works.**

 **Nik41:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Indeed, Rose is fully aware of Jaunes past and all he has done. But she does not pity him, She knows him well enough to realise that he doesn't want or care for pity.**

 **Eugenio4079:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Brutal? She had her skull cut open and brain removed for god's sake, if you don't think that's brutal I shudder to think of what you do think is brutal. I don't go out of my way to write gory and bloody chapters, it just fits with Solus and his past.**

 **Green Gustavo:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Wow thanks, I try my hardest to do my best.**

 **Wagner:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **I never agreed with people that believe in fate or destiny, I honestly hate the idea that my life is completely out of my control and is all being determined by someone else.**

 **Oh and do bear in mind that in this particular AU Cinder isn't really a bad person... she's just been given the short end of the stick a few to many times.**

 **LilMate:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Will Jaune be getting the upgrade… You'll have to wait and see I'm afraid.**

 **As for what drove him to get it in the original timeline that stems more from the fact that he was basically dead after Atlas nuked him rather than any personal desire to get more power. The fragments would have been in complete agreement that survival was absolutely imperative over anything else.**

 **DD-Returns101:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Rest assured that the final chapters of this story will be suitably epic.**

* * *

 **Please remember to leave a review!**


	41. Minds Wreck

Edge of Life

Chapter Forty

Beta: Smithrooks

Minds Wreck

It had been a week.

One of the most stressful and nerve racking weeks of young Ruby's life. She and the other two girls had barely managed to get out of a major punishment with Ozpin for stealing a Bullhead and ditching class for 2 days; the girls had even been lucky enough that Ozpin didn't suspect them in the recent murder of the head of the SDC: Shirou Schnee. Weiss had taken a leave of absence from the school under the guise of 'family business', but everyone knew that her future at Beacon was uncertain now that she was the sole remaining member of the Schnee family and in control of her family company.

In the end Headmaster Ozpin had never suspected that the brief absence of their team was at all related to the death, and he had only pinned them for stealing the Bullhead. Eventually he had relented and only given them a few detentions as well as requiring a written apology from each of them to the pilots under the employ of the school for stealing one of their aircraft.

Yang's letter had been anything but apologetic and had actually ended up being about 1000 words of explaining that getting the correct pasta to sauce ratio was imperative when making spaghetti. Blake's letter had been _marginally_ better because it actually had something to do with why they stole the Bullhead, but it was still utterly unapologetic because Blake was just going with 'the ends justify the means' even if she wouldn't explain what the ends actually were.

Ruby's letter had been the only one of the three to actually apologise but it had been half-hearted at best and basically amounted to 'Sorry we did the right thing! We'll be sure to warn you in advance next time! Thanks!'

So by the end of the week all of the girls were stressed and ready to go hunt down Rose to find Solus again. But luckily before it could come to that Ruby had gotten a message from Solus on her scroll that simply said: 'Come to warehouse B-14 in Vale docks.'

Of course, all three remaining members of RSYB had dropped their afternoon classes and rushed into the city to find their wayward teammate, ignoring the copious amounts of calls and messages from an irate Glynda Goodwitch.

When they had gotten into the city they had rushed to the docks post haste and began frantically searching through the warehouse district to find B-14. They had gotten to about B-12 when they finally saw Solus.

Each girl stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the merc fly out the door of the building and tumble across the old and worn concrete. Before they could really regain their bearings though Solus shot to his feet and angrily pointed to where he had come from. "YOU FILTHY HARLOT! I'M GONNA TEAR YOUR NECK OUT!" he yelled.

And without even glancing in their direction, Solus stomped back into the warehouse.

The three girls were moving only a second later, dashing into the building to help fight off whatever was attacking… oh.

As soon as they entered the building they saw Rose standing over Solus; the merc was pinned to the ground with the time traveler holding her foot over the back of his neck to keep him down. "You know," Rose said idly, not at all concerned at Solus thrashing and trying to escape, "this sort of reminds me of when you taught me hand to hand back when I was in Beacon."

Rose's silver eyes flickered over to where the three girls were standing. "Oh hello," the elder woman said. "You came sooner than I expected."

"What the fuck?" Yang asked, finally broken out of her stupor at seeing Solus, the most powerful member of their team beaten so quickly.

Rose removed the foot holding Solus down. The merc scrambled out of arms reach and onto his feet; his deep blue eye briefly flickered over to the younger girls but his gaze quickly refocused onto the smirking form of Rose. "Okay, we need to set up some ground rules for our training!" he ranted, waving his hands in front of his face. "Firstly, no more punching me in the face!" Rose's smirk widened slightly, "And secondly, when I punch you in the face can you tell me how I did, so I can learn from it-"

In an instant Solus was sent to the ground because Rose had lashed out with her right leg and kicked him in the face. The scarred merc smacked the ground with a groan and a few muttered swears that were hardly audible. "God I just love this," Rose said contentedly, "is this what it was like teaching me hand to hand? Cause this is freaking hilarious."

Solus just groaned.

"Okay seriously, what the hell?" Blake asked while Ruby moved to help Solus up.

Rose smiled benignly and said, "While we were waiting Solus had the lovely idea to see if my hand to hand combat skills had improved over the years. After about 15 minutes of what I can only assume was aggressive flailing on his part Solus has no doubt concluded that they have!"

Solus stood shakily on his feet, a slight bruise forming on his face as he glared daggers at the time traveler. "Fuck you," he muttered without any heat towards the woman.

"You first," Rose shot back with a challenging grin.

"Okay, ignoring whatever this is," Ruby vaguely gestured between Rose and Solus, "Solus, what the hell happened? Why did Shirou Schnee have it out for you so badly?"

Solus shifted awkwardly on the spot as he obviously tried to think of something to say that would appease his partner. "I… um…"

Rose looked like she was enjoying herself immensely at seeing Solus squirm on the spot; her faint pleased grin was a strong indicator as she stared at the man who was struggling with his words.

"Solus?" Blake prompted as she leveled a small suspicious look at the man.

"Um… I may… have perhaps crashed an important… party… of his?" the freelancer finally blurted out.

"A party?" Ruby questioned disbelievingly. "He captured you and tortured you because you crashed a party?"

"Yes."

Rose was almost shaking with poorly suppressed amusement at the predicament that Solus was in, her silver eyes dancing with humour and mirth. "Yeah," Rose choked out between muffled guffaws, "you could say he really _killed_ that party."

The three younger women looked at Rose questioningly as Solus glared daggers at the woman, his eye promising bloody murder if she said any more. "Right…" Ruby said as her younger silver eyes darted between her older counterpart and her partner. "Well okay… at least you're safe now."

Yang bobbed her head at her younger sister's words. "Yeah, after all that effort we spent getting your sorry arse to safety you better not go get hurt again."

Blake didn't say anything, but nodded her agreement to the words of her louder teammates.

Solus looked very uncomfortable at the words of the sisters, awkwardly shuffling on the spot with his eye locked onto the concrete ground. Rose elbowed him strongly in the side; ignoring the muffled groan of pain from the freelancer she said, "And what do you have to say to your team Solus?"

"I… ah…" he stumbled with his words for a moment before quickly blurting out, "thanks for coming to rescue me!"

Both Yang and Blake took the unexpected thanks with grace and merely nodded their heads. Ruby on the other hand was much more appreciative and leapt towards the merc in joy, giving him a brutal bone crushing hug as a sign of her affection.

"Please," Solus moaned, "let go…"

Ruby didn't, in the end she had to be pried off by Rose who was finally able to contain her amusement and stop laughing at the misfortune of Solus. "Okay, all that aside we have work to do," the elder woman said as she sat down on the ground, beckoning the others to do so as well.

Team RSYB sank to the cold concrete floor and looked towards Rose for what exactly they were expected to do. "So…" Rose said, her silver eyes raking across the younger fighters, only lingering a second longer on Solus. "The Queen, I know where to find her. All we need to do is go kill her then we've literally averted the apocalypse."

"That's it?" Blake asked, showing no distaste at the casual way Rose treated killing. "Just go and kill her? Surely it isn't that simple."

"Actually it is," Rose said idly. "The Queen is still powerful, but not even close to what she became in my timeline. I should be able to deal with her myself, but if worst comes to worst and I can't beat her alone then it's just a matter of ganging up on her."

"What about her forces?" Solus questioned. "I know she has at least two hunter trained bodyguards, but you said that she had a full hunter trained _army_ in your time."

"Yeah, I don't think taking on an army with just the five of us would be good for our health," Yang added her two Lien.

"Her army doesn't exist yet," Rose said with a slight scowl. "All of them were clones on accelerated growth hormones, right now she would have hundreds of cloning vats with embryos in them. If she does have two bodyguards then they would be the current incarnations of the two primary clone specimens."

"Current incarnations?" Blake questioned.

Rose hummed, "Like I said before, the Queen is very old. The two different specimens for her clone army were chosen from people she knew in her… hmm, youth… and she has spent decades trying to perfect the cloning techniques required to make the perfect copy of those two."

"Well, who were they? Yang asked. "Before she cloned them I mean."

Solus interjected, "You need to understand Yang, C- the Queen is an old woman now, mired by anger and an all-encompassing desire for revenge."

The girls with the exception of Rose turned to Solus with questioning looks. "How do you know?" Ruby asked. "Did Rose tell you?"

Solus shook his head, his eye not meeting that of his partner's. "She and I have… met before."

"Yes," Rose interjected before they could get off topic, "what the Queen plans to do is wrong… but it is not without reason."

"Not without reason?" Yang questioned incredulously. "You said that she basically annihilated what was left of civilization! What reason could justify that?"

Rose chuckled humorlessly, "Trust me Yang, if you were placed in her situation you would do the same."

"Bullshit." the blonde girl retorted strongly.

"Why? What's her justification?" Blake asked.

"Family of course," Rose said matter-of-factly as her silver eyes locked on to Yang. "Think about it Yang, what would you do if someone took away all your family? Everyone and everything you know and love… what would you do?"

Yang's purple eyes lowered and locked onto the cold grey concrete. "I would…" her eyes flickered over to Ruby for a moment, "I would want revenge…" she said quietly, then her head shot back up and her eyes flashed red for a moment. "But only to the people that did it! I wouldn't go nuts and try to kill everyone if only one person was to blame!"

Rose nodded, her eyes dancing over the assembled members of her past team. "Yup, so would I. But that's not how it was. When her whole life was torn away, the world celebrated. Praised the man that was responsible and hailed him a hero."

"What?" Ruby questioned, her silver eyes terribly confused. "Why would anyone celebrate? That's horrible! Who did it? A real hero wouldn't do something like that."

"Oh, but he did," Solus said, his gaze as hard as steel. "And you've met the man too."

Blake's eyes widened as she caught on. A small muttered "Oh no…" slipped through her lips as she looked at the sisters, waiting for them to realise.

"What?!" Ruby squawked. "No way! We would kn-"

"Don't you see Ruby?" Blake interrupted, "There's only one person on Remnant that fits the description, its-"

"Ozpin," Rose finished. "Your dear headmaster Ozpin is responsible for all the Queen has done or will do."

Yang shook her head disbelievingly, "No way, Ozpin would never do something like that!"

"Take off your rose tinted glasses Yang, and remember the history of Mountain Glenn," Solus said as he lay down on the hard concrete, his hands clasped behind his head. "The man left _thousands_ of people to die at the end of the Faunus Wars."

Yang didn't say anything; her purple eyes only widened slightly when as she recalled the history lesson with Oobleck that had covered this.

"Who…" Blake started slowly, "who was she before? The Queen I mean."

"Before Ozpin ruined her the Queen was many things," Rose said as she rose to her feet. "A mother, a wife, a normal woman… but that's hardly important anymore. It's time we went to go confront her, put an end to what she could be."

The others stood as well; they had the full weekend to do whatever they wanted, so if they left now they could still get back before class resumed. "Where is she and how are we getting there?" Ruby questioned, not really keen on stealing another Bullhead.

"Outside Vale, and Solus' jeep," Rose answered as the other girls groaned at the thought of being stuffed inside the small metal contraption for any extended period of time.

Collectively the group moved towards the back exit of the warehouse; before anyone else could dispute him Solus said: "Since Rose is driving I call shotgun."

Blake and Ruby just shrugged, but Yang was having other ideas. "What?" the girl cried, "No no no you can't stuff me in the back! I need-"

But she was cut off when Solus said, "Don't care," before breaking into a sprint towards his car.

* * *

They had left the city about 20 minutes ago; Rose was driving the vehicle through winding roads and passing the green leafy landscape briskly without pause.

Solus was sitting in the front seat even as Yang muttered death threats from behind him. The gentle bumping of the car was relaxing to the merc as he slumped in his seat; the girls in the back were talking quietly as well.

Slowly, gently, Solus drifted off into a doze. His mind oozing away into the land of dreams…

 _Jaune Arc stood in his room at Beacon Academy, his dual blue eyes washing over the room with a sort of dismissive calmness. A gentle knock on the door preceded the archway opening to reveal Ruby, his teammate and leader._

" _Hey Solus," she said as she made her way into the room._

 _Solus? Why did she call him Solus? What an odd name… "Hey Ruby, why did you call me Solus? That isn't my name."_

 _Yang appeared out of nowhere, stepping forth from the shadows that Jaune didn't even realise lingered in the corners of the room. "Of course your name is Solus," the blonde girl said with her eyes focused on him, "what else would it be?"_

 _Jaune was about to say something but was cut off when Blake stepped out of the small bathroom. "Don't you remember Solus? You chose that name after you came back from Vacuo. You chose it because you were the-"  
_

" _Vacuo?" Jaune exclaimed, "That's ridiculous! I've never been to Vacuo." He paused for a moment, remembering a dream he once had. "I had a terrible dream about it once though, that I had destroyed the kingdom and killed thousands of people…"_

" _That was real," Ruby said as she moved about the room. "You fought with Cinder Fall and then found out the reactor was actually a bomb."_

" _And then because you were a coward you made sure that you would survive." Yang said without any malice, just a casual tone of voice as if discussing the weather._

" _What?" Jaune denied, unfounded panic creeping into the edge of his mind. "No, I wouldn't-"_

" _But you did," Blake said flatly as she settled down to read a book. "You even had a different name back then too. Everyone called you Argentum Mortem, the Slayer of Independence."_

" _But I wouldn't do something like that!" Jaune yelled in a panic, "I'm a good person! An Arc!"_

" _An Arc?" Yang questioned, with a faint grin on her face at what was obviously a joke. "Don't be silly, you killed the last Arc in the Directors facility years ago Solus."_

" _That's not true!" Jaune yelled disbelievingly, "That was just a bad dream I had once! I would never do anything like that! You're all lying!"_

" _Are they though?" a new and distinctly male voice questioned. Jaune whirled around to see Headmaster Ozpin standing casually in the corner of the room as if he had been there the entire time. "Or is it you that lies Mr Superstes? You claim to be Jaune Arc, but that boy died in the eclipse on the day of the black sun."_

 _Jaune felt hot tears streak down the side of his face. This… this wasn't right. Why would they say things like this? He wasn't a bad person, he didn't do all those terrible things. "Why are you saying these things?" Jaune questioned, distraught. "I-I thought we were friends!'_

" _Oh but we are friends Solus," Ruby said cheerfully even as her face twisted into an ugly smirk that seemed unnatural. "We are the best of friends, we know all about each other after all."_

 _Blake's face twisted into a smirk identical to Ruby's. "Yes, we know all about you Argentum Mortem."_

 _Yang stepped up and joined her teammates. "Yeah, don't worry about a thing Lonely Wanderer."_

 _With the gentle clicking of his cane on the floor, Ozpin joined his students in grinning manically towards Jaune. "Indeed Subject 13, there is nothing to be concerned about."_

 _Jaune's eyes darted around the room in terror, flicking between the four identically smirking faces in fear and pain. "No no no I- that's… I need to go!"_

 _In the blink of an eye he darted out of the room and into the corridor. Unfounded fear coursed through his body and spurred him to run through the building the fastest he possibly could, but the corridors stretched on forever with twists and turns that led him in an endless loop of pounding feet._

 _He kept running even as the building burst into flames around him, the red hot fire licking at his ankles as he dashed past. He could hear the words and mutterings of the other students in their dorms even as they burnt to a crisp. He ran and ran, but the whispering was still there._

" _Solus…" a female voice floated past._

 _He ran faster._

" _Argentum…" a thick male voice echoed._

 _His eyes darted around to find the source of the damnable voices._

" _Subject 13…" another unidentifiable voice breathed, seemingly right next to him._

 _Jaune finally stopped running, dropping to his knees as pain washed over him; agony so powerful he screamed in total and unimaginable torment. Blood poured from his mouth and face, but quickly sealed over into a fleshy scab and then into scarred skin._

 _Jaune looked up from his position on the ground, only to catch a brief glance of his reflection in a nearby window._

 _He screamed again, not in pain but in horror. His eye was gone, replaced by a thick gouge and eye patch. His face was littered with small scars, his single remaining eye flashed white and a sick grin that he knew he wasn't making marred the reflection._

 _Jaune stumbled back and onto his arse, his eye focused on the reflection. The figure in the glass grinned more and mouthed, 'we are the same.'_

" _No no no no!" Jaune cried as he scrambled to his feet. "I'm not him! I'm Jaune Arc!"_

 _Jaune sprinted away from the twisted reflection, his single blue eye wide with terror and fear._

" _Jaune…" a faint voice called from very far away._

" _YES!" Jaune cried, "I'm here! I'm coming!"_

 _Jaune ran towards the voice, sprinting in the vain hope that someone,_ _anyone_ _could save him._

 _The flames in the corridor nipped at his ankles as he rounded one last corner. There at the far side of the corridor was Rose, her dual silver eyes sparkling with hope and pain as she reached out to him with her hand._

" _Jaune," she intoned lowly, even as flames burst forth around her._

 _Jaune sprinted to the woman as fast as he could, forcing his legs to get him there in time…_

 _Just as he reached her, the flames grew hotter. His hand closed around hers, the grip firm and strong. But the heat was too much; she was burning, he was burning._

 _They both screamed in agony as the flames ate away at their flesh-_

"Solus, wake up."

Solus awoke with a start, his head jerking off the seat. The unnatural fear and emotions of the dream still lingered in his mind, even as his eye darted around to Rose who had awoken him.

The car had stopped; the other girls had gotten out and were stretching out the kinks in their bodies from being cramped up for so long.

"Where are we?" Solus questioned as he looked around. A massive mountain stared back at him as he slowly shook off the last vestiges of sleep.

"This," Rose said as she got out of the car, "is where the Queen is."

Solus looked at the mountain apprehensively; it suddenly looked a lot more ominous.

"Come on," Rose said as she looked at his scarred face, "let's go save the world."

 **A/N**

 **So that's that, next chapter we finally,** _ **finally,**_ **get to the fun stuff.**

 **Well… fun to write about anyway. Not fun for team RSYB and Rose I suspect.**

 **Anyway so sorry about last week, but that was for the greater good because as you can no doubt tell this story is becoming far improved from what it was with the help of my handy beta Smithrooks. Without his help this would no doubt still be an utter mess of poor grammar and spelling mistakes.**

 **And a fraction more humour in this chapter too, something this story has been understandably lacking in so far. Oh and you know that bit at the beginning with Yang and 1000 words on the correct pasta to sauce ratio for spaghetti? Yeah I did that once, the teacher was less than pleased but I got the impression he was amused regardless… Sort of anyway.**

 **So ignoring my rambling let's see about the reviews:**

 **Wagner:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Your mistake is thinking that Solus** _ **has**_ **goals. He does not, perhaps a better quote would be: "the difference between gods and demons largely depends on where you are standing at the time."**

 **.3760:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **What part of Solus makes you sit back and think 'This guy would make a great father!' seriously? This is the second time you've asked and I'm beginning to wonder if you're actually reading my story or you're just making something else up. I'm happy to hear from anyone with comments that are reasonable and apply to the story as told so far, but please think about what you are going to write in a review before you post it.**

 **Smithrooks:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **What Ozpin did was required sadly, a choice that while terrible had to be made.**

 **With this chapter I wanted to show that with just her being there Rose has changed things, it would be safe to assume that her fore knowledge is going to become basically worthless in the face of the major players. aura sensing has been in the works for this story since its inception and was first mentioned by Ozpin in chapter 7 as his semblance, although I feel I should mention that obviously there are differing levels of skill with the ability. Ozpin has taken the skill to the absolute end degree and can, as hinted at in chapter 7, determine someones alignment with just a passing glance and feel the aura of people over a great distance. Ruby is on the other side of the spectrum however, she is talented but it still takes her quite some time to get a reading on those close to her and she has no ability to sense aura from a long distance whatsoever. Cinder is closer to Ozpins level of skill but unlike him doesn't have the natural advantage of having a semblance focused in that area.**

 **'Pale imitations' indeed. Cinder was, is, a desperate woman clouded by thoughts of revenge for what she thinks was taken from her. She pre-dates the Director by several decades and he was just another failure in a long list of schemes that didn't work. Emerald and Mercury as seen in the latest chapters are a perversion of what they are based off, failed attempts of Cinder to re-create what was lost. But age and bitterness clouds the memories of even the most intelligent of us, what they used to be is lost to what she wants them to be.**

* * *

 **Leave a review!**


	42. Broken Mirror

Edge of life

Chapter Forty One

Beta: Smithrooks

Broken Mirror

Solus could feel it. Feel _her_.

Hovering just at the edge of perception was Cinder Fall. Solus stared at the ominous mountain in trepidation; he had no skill with aura sensing but he could feel her because she was the one that unlocked his. Cinder's aura was a subtle blackness that could wash away the purest light if she so desired, but right now it felt… quiet, as if poised and waiting for the right moment to strike.

But… that wasn't going to happen. She may be aware that he was nearby but surely she wouldn't know about Rose or the others.

"She knows I'm here," Solus said flatly as the group moved towards a small cave in the face of the mountain.

The three younger girls whirled around, "What?!" they screeched as a unit.

Rose just nodded her head as if she had been expecting this, "Well she did unlock your aura after all."

"What!?" Ruby demanded again, alone this time.

Solus winced and motioned the group to keep moving, "I have something of a history with the Queen you see…"

"A history?" Yang questioned, "That's more than just a history Solus."

They entered the cave and Rose pulled out a small torch for light; the elder woman looked perfectly calm about the whole ordeal. "Perhaps it would be best if this were discussed _after_ we have dealt with her."

Blake, who had been silent up until this point agreed, "Finally a voice of reason," she muttered, "we can argue all we want later, for now let's just focus on not dying."

Before anyone else could say or do anything a large section of the back wall slid away, revealing a long, pristine white corridor.

Rose grinned thinly, a weak smile that Solus recognised was more for them than her. "Well if we're gonna go die fighting her we might as well get on with it," the merc said morosely; they were totally screwed if Rose couldn't beat her after all.

"That's the spirit!" Rose said with false cheerfulness as they all entered the white corridor.

The door closed behind them, and slowly a wall panel opened up to show a large, horizontal window. It only took a glance by the younger girls for their jaws to drop in amazement and horror.

Beyond the window was a massive room that went on for further than their eyes could see. It was filled with thousands of pale blue cylinders that had dark objects of various sizes floating in the centre. "This… this place is huge!" Ruby cried eventually.

"Indeed it is, child."

Everyone spun around to see the flickering projection of an absolutely gorgeous looking raven haired woman. Her face was deceptively soft and easy to look at, but no one in the group was fooled. This woman was the Queen; her eyes were blazing with old hatred and knowledge which belied her beauty.

"Cinder," Solus spat as he glared daggers at the projection.

The woman inclined her head ever so slightly towards her failed project. "My dear Subject 13. It's been too long, after Vacuo you never called... what was I to think?"

"Solus?" Ruby questioned.

"Ignore what she says," Rose cautioned, her voice like iron. "Cinder is a master manipulator."

Cinder's fiery gaze settled onto Rose, amusement clear on her features. "Ah, you. You must be the new power I felt. One does have to wonder who you are, and why you arrived in a spike of energy that was almost as strong as the bomb in Vacuo."

Rose grimaced. "I did what I had to do to get here. Today is the day you die Cinder… make peace with yourself now, you shall be joining your family soon."

Cinder sneered, the expression casting her pretty face into a harsh light. "You know nothing little girl, I will live forever."

Solus shook his head. "You know what happened to Braun Cinder, immortality is a fool's dream."

Cinder smirked, a vicious, predatory look that sent chills down the spines of the five intruders. "Only for those too weak to achieve it."

With that the hologram flickered out and the room was cast into momentary silence. "So what do we do no-" whatever else Ruby was going to say was cut off when the floor fell away from under them.

The gaping hole in the floor split into different tunnels; Yang and Blake shot down one of them with a yelp and disappeared into the darkness. Solus and Rose vanished into another with muttered curses and shouts to stay alive.

And Ruby fell alone, engulfed by the darkness.

* * *

Yang and Blake hit the ground with a thump, low groans escaped their lips as they rolled over and got to their feet.

Blake surveyed the area around them. It was a large, open space shrouded in patches of darkness that were too thick for even her Faunus eyes to see through. Yang muttered curses as she fiddled with her scroll; there was no signal, it was absolutely dead.

"Where are we?" Yang questioned, her lilac eyes looking across the seemingly empty room.

"Some kind of arena perhaps?" Blake thought out loud.

"Arena, or grave. Whichever you prefer really."

Yang and Blake whirled around to see two younger teens step out of the darkness, a boy with steel grey coloured hair and a girl with a thick mint green hair style.

"Who the hell are you?" Yang demanded, ready for anything.

"Yang," Blake whispered, "these could be some of the clones that Rose told us about."

"Clones?" the green haired girl questioned, her red eyes dancing with malice. "We are superior beings."

With that said both teens stepped backwards into the shadows, disappearing from view.

Yang and Blake shared a look, then shrugged and began shooting into the darkness. If the clones wanted a fight then they would get one.

After about 30 seconds they stopped, an echoing silence consuming the room. The partners shared a look. What had happened? Surely at least one of their shots should have connected, right?

Yang saw the attack coming before Blake and pushed the other girl out of the way in an instant; the silver haired boy had come flying out of the air and was blocked by Yang with her gauntlets.

In a fraction of a second he jumped out of Yang's block and onto the ground about a metre away. Blake took the chance and started shooting at the younger looking boy, but he deftly dodged and sped towards the partners. As soon as he was in range he kicked Blake's gun upwards and then spun around to kick Yang.

Yang pulled out of the way in the nick of time, but was unable to dodge to following kick to the face. The blonde girl just grew angry however and swung her fist at the boy; he jumped out of the way and towards Blake.

The Faunus girl brought her weapon to bear and started to shoot at him, but he jumped over her and onto her back, forcing her to point Gambol Shroud at Yang as she advanced.

Yang stopped moving the moment the gun came to bear on her, fortunately Blake stopped shooting and shifted her gun into its sword form. The dark haired girl spun around and attempted to bisect the annoying clone but he again jumped out of the way, this time as he did so he shot two thick white rounds out of his foot mounted guns.

The shots were quickly deflected by Yang and Blake, both girls getting progressively more annoyed since they couldn't touch the guy. If they could just get him to stay still…

But when their eyes settled back onto the boy they saw dozens of the white rounds circling around him. With a final flick of his feet the rounds shot towards the girls, covering the area in a fine white smog and making them cough and gasp.

The smog cleared quickly, but neither girl could see where the boy had gone. It was almost as if-

From behind them the boy grabbed their arms and kicked each of them in turn, dual thunks resounding as they were hit in the head. But soon he let go of Yang and focused on Blake, repeatedly kicking her in the face.

The boy smirked as Yang and Blake stumbled around, completely disoriented by the multiple head blows.

Yang was the first to regain her bearings, though it did little good because the first thing she saw was Blake being bound in chains and dragged into the darkness.

"Blake!" Yang cried out at seeing her partner disappear.

But soon her fury was redirected towards the silver haired boy, her lilac eyes turning red in rage as she glared hatefully at the younger looking teen. "You'll pay for that," she growled.

The boy just smirked more.

Yang charged at him with a yell but he dodged yet again, flipping around her punch and over her back to grab her long hair. Before she could even muster a response to the cheap attack he used the long blond locks as leverage and he kicked her in the back of the head. Yang stumbled forwards but he wasn't done, in one swift movement he skidded past her and took her legs out, sending her crashing to the ground on her back.

Groggily her eyes rolled around, but all she could see was three different versions of him stomping her face, knocking her out cold.

Nearby in the oppressive blackness, Blake spun around in a vain attempt to see her attacker. But the effort was moot, all she heard was a sickening crunch and unseen behind her the girl with mint green hair raised a sickle.

The blow came from behind; her aura took the worst of it, but the blow sent her flying. The last thing Blake saw before her face connected with the ground was the silver haired boy standing over Yang's unconscious form.

Then with another sickening crunch Blake's face entered an intimate relationship with the floor and darkness consumed her vision.

They had lost.

* * *

Ruby cursed as she rose from the floor. The fall hadn't hurt much since her aura had protected her, but still the thought of being separated from her team in a place like this was not a pleasant one.

A glance at her scroll told her that she would not be calling for help.

She was alone.

Ruby was in some kind of darkened corridor that only had dim red lighting. In the bleak light Ruby could tell that she was in a newer part of the facility; it wasn't as clean as the rest and several walls lacked outer metal plates and were just solid walls of cables and wires.

It was all very creepy, worse still was that every sound Ruby made the room echoed and the crushing silence seemed almost… alive.

Ruby couldn't see more than a few metres in front of her, the lighting wouldn't allow for it. So she took a few slow steps forwards, her silver eyes darting around the corridor in apprehension.

Finally, at the edge of the light a small glass pod came into view; surrounding the pod was a thick pale blue liquid that covered the ground. The pod was empty and some kind of breathing apparatus hung limply within, whatever had been within the pod had only just vacated.

Ruby wasn't alone.

Her silver eyes darted around, trying to take in her surroundings. In the low red light she couldn't see well enough, but she could hear. A low, wet sounding cough echoed out through the passageway; Ruby spun around to face the direction of the sound, Crescent Rose held firmly in her small hands.

"After so long, finally I breathe air again," a small female voice whispered.

Ruby almost recoiled. That was the voice of a child; it was soft but filled with so much quiet melancholy that Ruby almost forgot that there would be no _real_ children here. Only clones of those long since dead.

Out of the darkness the female voice spoke again. "Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say how nice it is to breathe air for the first time, I'm not really her after all."

"Where are you?" Ruby questioned in what she hoped was a strong voice. "Show yourself!"

A slight sigh slipped out of the darkness, then slowly a little girl stepped into Ruby's sight. She was a short girl with midnight black hair that was still soaking wet from being in the pod, wearing plain grey clothes that were dry but looked a little large on her small frame. The girl's eyes were a pale lavender that bored holes into Ruby with an intensity that startled the older girl.

"You know," the younger girl said, "you look a lot like that hunter… Summer, I think her name was."

Ruby's eyes grew hard, this was all a trick to get her to lower her guard no doubt. Rose had warned them that the Queen was a master manipulator, so Ruby was determined not to fall for any cheap ruse put on by this clone. "Move aside," Ruby said to the girl. "I need to find my friends and find Cinder."

"Cinder," the girl parroted. "I feel your aura, you have no hope against her. And neither do your friends, I feel them and they are weak. I- oh my… he is here."

He? Who is he? What was the girl talking about? There was no way some half-baked clone could sense aura either, that was a skill that took decades to master. "Move aside," Ruby repeated. "I won't warn you again."

But the girl wasn't listening; her pale lavender eyes were shining with delight and… hunger. "He is here… What will I say to him? It's been so long after all."

Ruby was done, this girl was crazy. She would just knock the younger girl out then go find the others, she would come back later and work out what to do with her.

With a burst of semblance-enhanced speed Ruby dashed forwards ready to knock the child out, but then the impossible happened.

Suddenly, the girl's pale lavender eyes refocused onto Ruby as the elder girl moved to attack. In an instant her pale hand shot outwards in a gripping motion, and Ruby stopped moving straight away. The huntress in training felt power wash over her as she was suspended in mid-air with her throat constricted. "You must have come here with him," the child said as Ruby choked. "Tall blonde male, blue eyes and a habit of losing his temper easily. Where is he?"

Ruby made a faint gurgling sound; a thin smile stretched across the younger girl's face even as she loosened her telekinetic grip slightly. Ruby choked out as she was allowed more air, "W-what?" she rasped even as she clawed at her throat with her free hand. "W-what do y-you want with S-Solus?!"

The girl grinned, then with a lazy flick of her hand Ruby was hurled down the corridor, crashing into the back wall with a painful thump. Ruby quickly raised her eyes though, ready for a follow up attack. But nothing came. "Solus, eh?" the younger girl questioned as she moved towards where Ruby had fallen. "That's certainly different than what he used to go by… I'm guessing his last name is Superstes or something? He did always have a penchant for the dramatic I suppose."

Ruby coughed as she rose to her feet. She had dropped her weapon when she was thrown through the air, but falling back on what Solus had taught her she raised her hands in a vague approximation of a boxing stance. "Solus is my partner," Ruby said. "You're just a clone, you don't know him."

The younger girl nodded, her eyes darkening slightly. "I might be a clone, but I'm still a person you know."

Ruby dashed forwards and swung her right fist out in a punch to the clone's head. But the smaller girl dodged and with another flick of her hand Ruby was sent crashing back into the wall with a thump.

"I know him, his past, his future," The girl said as she stood over Ruby. "I don't want to fight you, he would kill me if I hurt someone so obviously related to Summer. But you can either take me to him willingly or not, I suggest the former."

Ruby glared at the small clone, but she knew that it would be best to go along willingly. The small girl had proven her power, Ruby knew she didn't stand much chance of winning. "Fine," Ruby said through her glare. "I'll take you to him."

A small smile stretched across the clone's face, an actual smile and not a smirk or cruel grin like everything else had been. "Excellent choice," she said as she telekinetically pulled Ruby to her feet, "my name is Kira, what's yours?"

* * *

Solus and Rose hit the ground in a tangle of limbs; they both quickly got to their feet and looked at their scrolls. No signal.

Solus looked around wildly; they were in some kind of corridor with bright pale blue lighting.

"Oooh…" Rose said as she worked a kink out of her back. "I had forgotten about that trap. Whoops."

Solus turned to her. "You FORGOT?! For fuck's sake Ruby we can't screw around here!"

Rose rolled her eyes, "Please, you can hardly lecture me on having bad memory."

Solus didn't say anything, glaring at the woman with all the venom he could muster.

Rose just smiled, knowing that Solus didn't really mean it. "Well I _do_ remember where we are now, just through that door is Cinder. She's waiting for us."

"Oh great," Solus said with thick sarcasm, his previous anger forgotten. "We get to go die sooner."

Rose walked towards the door, patting Solus on the arm as she passed him. "You really are a ball of cheerfulness aren't you?"

Solus grumbled but followed Rose anyway, if they were gonna die he might as well get it over with.

The door opened and they both stepped through and into a spacious circular room. "So kind of you to join us," the deceptively sweet voice of Cinder echoed. "It's been a long time since we saw each other in Vacuo, Argentum."

Solus grimaced but he kept his gazed focused on the elder woman in the centre of the room. "It's not Argentum Mortem anymore," he responded weakly.

"Oh?" the powerful woman said with a raised eyebrow. "What is it then? Jaune? I hardly think that's fitting."

Solus didn't reply; his eye shone with anger but he held his tongue. Rose did not however, "You can hardly comment, or have you forgotten your real name too? I know I haven't, _Ashlynn Ember_."

The temperature in the room rose significantly and Cinder, or Ashlynn as it were, glared at Rose with thick hatred.

"Oooh touched a nerve there didn't I?" Rose taunted as she drew the faded Crescent Rose off her back. "Well it hardly matters now… you'll be dead in a few minutes anyways."

Out of the shadows in the room two of the clones stepped forward, both looked to be in their mid-twenties. The male had silver hair and some kind of weapon attached to his boots, the female had green hair and two chain sickles.

Rose glanced at Solus, "You take those two while I deal with Cinder?" she asked.

Solus sighed, knowing that the following fight would be hard. "Yeah sure, why the hell not…"

Rose grinned weakly, "I'm sure it'll all work out."

Solus didn't reply, he just raised his hands in a fighting stance with his wrist blades gleaming in the dim light.

Crescent Rose unfurled into a scythe, Rose glaring daggers at Cinder in the centre of the room. Just before Rose dashed to attack the much older woman, Solus noticed that unlike the Ruby of the present, Rose's version of the scythe was serrated and looked startlingly like a saw-blade.

Idly, Solus realised that the modification probably made it easier to cut through bone.

But in his moment of distraction the silver haired boy, Mercury if Solus remembered correctly, had leapt forwards to attack. Fortunately, Solus saw the attack coming just in time and was able to jump over the flying kick from the other boy.

But Mercury wasn't deterred, as he landed he spun around and shot a thick white round towards Solus.

The merc narrowly dodged, but was caught unaware when the girl, Emerald, appeared out of nowhere and slashed him with both her sickles. The attack was absorbed by his aura but he was still thrown backwards into a nearby crate.

As Solus sailed through the air he lashed out with his hands and shot a ball of darkish grey aura towards Emerald, the attack connected and exploded in her face just as he crashed into a crate.

Quickly he leapt to his feet and charged towards Mercury with his fist ready to deliver a punishing blow. As soon as the attack was about to connect though Mercury smirked and _caught_ thevicious uppercut.

"What?!" Solus exclaimed, shocked that his attack had been so easily blocked.

Nothing more was said because Emerald appeared above Mercury and kicked Solus in the face, sending him tumbling backwards.

Solus landed on his feet though, rolling over then grasping the hilt of his family sword. With a quick metallic screech the ancient blade was pulled free and Solus was sprinting towards the clones with semblance-enhanced speed.

He swung his sword horizontally at Emerald but the green haired girl ducked under the blow. Without losing any momentum Solus moved forwards and slashed at Mercury, attempting to diagonally bisect the silver haired boy.

The male clone pulled back and narrowly dodged the blow. Again, Solus kept his momentum going and swung at Emerald, this time however the girl jumped up and _stood_ on the sword. "This is fun," the red eyed girl said with a grin.

Solus held the blade, shocked that they had both been able to avoid his attacks so effortlessly. But then he noticed something; despite the fact that the girl was currently standing on the tip of Crocea Mors, there was no extra weight at all.

 _Illusions…_ his mind whispered.

Solus flared his aura and the illusion washed away like sand in the wind. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the real Emerald smirking as she prepared for a killing blow.

Solus spun around, completely catching the female clone off guard by his sudden breaking of the illusion. His sword lashed out towards her head, but she managed to pull back in the nick of time. A few delicate strands of green hair floated to the ground.

Mercury jumped back in with another flying side kick, but Solus jumped over the attack and pointed his sword downwards, ready to spear the other male to the floor.

Mercury dodged, but only just. Crocea Mors planted itself deeply where Mercury's head had been moments before; Solus let out a growl of frustration and wrenched the gleaming silver blade out.

In an instant Solus attempted to stab Mercury again, this time the other boy was caught on the back foot however. The male clone was just barely able catch the blade with both hands, but the sword dug deep and blood oozed out of the wounded appendages as Mercury struggled to hold back the impressive semblance-aided might of Solus.

Just as Mercury's strength was fading and moments away from being impaled, Emerald came to her fellow clone's rescue.

Two pistol/sickles jammed into Solus' ribs and fired. From such close proximity, Solus' aura only barely managed to protect him from the fatal shots, and as such he sailed through the air leaving his sword to clatter to the ground.

The clones didn't waste their chance. Ignoring the massive battle that their master and the other intruder were having on the other side of the room, they dashed forwards and peppered their opponent with shots from their respective weapons.

But Solus was ready for this. Using his semblance he boosted his durability, not enough to lose mobility but enough that he could temporarily ignore the bullets raining down on him as he dashed towards his attackers.

His fist smacked into Mercury's face with staggering strength and the other boy was sent flying backwards. Using his momentum Solus spun around and kicked Emerald, the girl basically folded over the blow but Solus finished off the combination with a vicious backhand that sent the girl crashing down to where her fellow clone lay.

In a flash of rage Solus lashed out with his gauntlets, and a huge wave of explosive aura shot towards the downed clones. The explosion rattled the room, Solus panting as the anger left him. Slowly he dropped to his knees, pleased that he had killed the infernal clones but exhausted from the fight.

The dust cleared slowly, and to Solus' utter shock and mounting horror the two clones stepped out of the dust cloud.

They both looked a little worse for wear, clothes torn and dirty with smears of blood dribbling from various small wounds. Emerald smirked, then like sand in the wind they disappeared as if they were an illusion.

Solus flared his aura again, hoping to dispel the illusion. But nothing happened; the side of the room was still empty and devoid of anyone besides him-

" _You will die here,"_ Emerald's voice whispered from behind his ear.

Solus whirled around, but she wasn't there.

" _We're in your cemetery…"_ Mercury's voice mocked from the other side.

Again Solus whirled around, and again no one was there.

Solus' eye darted around, sweat pouring down his face.

Mercury appeared from nowhere, his foot crashing into the merc's face and sending him flying through a nearby wall. Heavy chunks of concrete thudded down on him; with a groan he rolled to a stop, but the voice of Emerald above him sent a shiver down his spine. "Are you okay?" she cooed with malice.

Solus didn't get the chance to say anything, instead he was kicked strongly into a nearby support pillar. The concrete pillar cracked but didn't break, but before he got the chance to fall to the ground and moan in pain a battered and bruised looking Mercury viciously kicked him through the roof.

Solus crashed into the floor on the level above, his aura faltering as blood gushed out of deep cuts caused by the concrete.

"You could have taken the stairs, you know," a decidedly younger and fresh looking Mercury said as he stood over Solus. "My god… human beings… always doing things the hard way."

Solus moaned in agony and the realisation that he had lost the fight; he might have been able to handle two of them, but seeing the younger version of Mercury could only mean that more clones were lurking about.

A dainty hand settled onto the freelancer's shoulder as a younger version of Emerald grinned at him. "Hey there," she said cheerfully. "Ooh, you're a mess. We got under your skin somehow didn't we?"

Solus' eye darted between the younger copies; he was so fucked right now…

Two Mercurys, the younger one and the one Solus had been fighting to start with, lashed out and kicked Solus with all their might. The merc was sent flying through another concrete wall, this time into a large cloning chamber with multiple pale blue pods scattered around the room and a pool of thick, pale blue liquid on the other side of the chamber.

Blood gushed off multiple cuts and scrapes as Solus rolled onto his back and moaned. Couldn't they just kill him already? Why the hell did they insist on tossing him through so many freaking walls?!

One of the clones said something, but Solus didn't listen. The next thing Solus knew he had been blasted by a thick white shot from one of the Mercurys; the shot threw him across the room and dunked him into the pool of cloning liquid.

All the clones present laughed at the apparent demise of their enemy, but all of them gaped in shock when Solus pulled himself out of the liquid and staggered to his feet.

If Solus was gonna die, he wanted to do it on his feet.

"Man," one of the Emeralds said, "he's tougher than he looks."

The eldest Mercury growled, frustrated by Solus' continued survival. He lashed out with his leg and a spinning white round shot towards the bloodied merc.

Solus flew over the pool and smashed into the back wall with a thud; the merc slumped downwards into a bloody puddle.

The clones jumped over the pool and landed before Solus, one of the Emeralds kicked Solus to see if there was any response. Solus groaned weakly and glared at the copies above him, "Why?" he rasped. "I don't get it, why do you serve her?"

"Mistress Cinder created us for the purpose of world domination," one of the Emeralds said. "But that doesn't really interest us, we just want to serve our mother and creator."

Solus was seeing red. Despite the bloody and battered condition of his body, he staggered to his feet and swung his fist weakly at the nearest clone.

The Mercury he attacked smirked and avoided the feeble swing, and with a slight chuckle he swept the battered merc's legs out from under him. But before Solus could hit the ground, the same Mercury caught him and held him up by the back of his hoodie.

Solus didn't have time to do any more; the eldest and most battered Mercury kicked him square in the chest and sent the already broken Solus flying diagonally through the floor, back into the first room where Cinder and Rose were fighting.

Solus flopped onto his back. This was it; he could hardly move, and his ribs felt like they were broken in numerous places.

The clones gathered around him; their faces set into a grin, obviously enjoying their victory.

"Say goodbye," one of the Emeralds purred as she raised her sickle.

But then the impossible happened.

Dual cries of "Solus, no!" and "13!" rang out across the room.

All the clones suddenly choked and gasped for oxygen as they were lifted into the air by some unseen force.

Solus' head snapped to the side, the first voice he knew was Ruby. But the power, the second voice…

His single blue eye locked onto her; she was younger than she should be, but her raven black hair was unmistakable, as were her pale lavender eyes shining with barely suppressed fury.

The woman he grew up with, the woman he fought for, the woman he loved.

The woman he killed.

Kira.

 **A/N**

 **Dun dun dun! Kira is alive! Sort of. Okay well no she isn't she's been dead for years, this is just a clone. If you're wondering why she was able to overpower Ruby so easily well**

 **that just comes down to the simple fact that Kira has always been absurdly OP, for example: "… subject 8, looking pissed as all hell and covered in injuries, the young girls pale purple eyes conveyed only fury. The small terminator child had a thick black eye forming on her right side, as well as a thick cut across her forehead, and to top it all off the child also had a very broken nose."**

 **Then:" "13!" 8 said sharply "hunters are evil! Look at what one of them did to me!"**

 **Summer chose her moment to jump back into the argument "a hunter did that to you?" Summer asked with barely contained anger, not at 8, but at seeing an injured child.**

 **"yes" 8 all but spat at Summer "his body is back there" she gestured back into the arena."**

 **So even before she got the full upgrade Kira was able to kill fully trained hunters, Something that is still beyond all our protagonists with the exception of Rose and maybe Solus.**

 **That aside let's take a look at the reviews:**

 **Smithrooks:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **A little bit of levity is always a good thing, particularly when humour has thus far been somewhat understandably lacking with this story.**

 **I've always held a sort of idle fascination with dreams, as someone that will dream regularly and for the most part recall what I've dreamed I try to recapture the surreal nature that most dreams present themselves with. That kind of impossibility that seems so real and the vague and confusing emotions that arise during a vivid dream.**

 **Nik41:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Not quite at the climax yet, but things certainly are getting more interesting.**

 **TheMAO17:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Wow longest review I've ever gotten, thank you.**

 **So let's start at the beginning, we certainly are reaching the tail end of the story but there are still quite a few chapters to go so fear not.**

 **Eh... Goku and Vegeta are dreadful fathers that are balanced out by Chi chi and Bulma so it's not TOO bad. Solus, depending on who the mother is (Ruby or Rose, both options don't bode well for any children) would still be a terrible father. If it were Solus and Ruby then it would certainly be the better of the two options, Solus would be fairly cold and disinterested in the kid (like Vegeta I imagine) and Ruby would spoil the kid rotten (like Bulma...). But if it were Solus and Rose... well the**

 **child or children would either become an absolute badass or die as soon as Rose decides its a good time to teach them how to fight.**

 **Rose looks across the smiling faces of her 5 and 6 year old children. A small smile bloomed on the older womans face.**

 **Rose: okay children! your father and I have decided that now would be a good time for you all to learn how to fight!**

 **Kid number 1: Okay mummy! what do we do first?**

 **Solus: well I just wanted to start hitting you until you learnt... but your mother had a better idea!**

 **Rose: That's right! In a few moments you will be launched into a highly Grimm infested forest with nothing but a rusty spoon to defend yourself with, have fun!**

 **Kid number 2: wait what?! I don't think-**

 ***launched onto forest hundreds of miles away with a scream***

 **Solus: hmm... do you think we should have unlocked their auras first?**

 **Rose:... nah I'm sure they'll be fine.**

 **regardless of my poor attempts at humor I thank you for your review, it was extremely amusing and I look forward to hearing from you again.**

 **Risedragon0009:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Solus has led a shitty life, no doubt about it. But his final fate will have mixed opinions to be sure.**

 **Assassins come in many different forms, maybe he has some as of yet unknown skills? Or perhaps he just prefers to get up close for his kills. I don't think he's completely useless when it comes the hand to hand stuff, in his fights shown in volume 3 he did use his hands for blocking and deflection.**

 **But for the most part I agree with you.**

* * *

 **Please leave a review!**


	43. Angels and Demons

Edge of Life

Chapter Forty Two

Beta: Smithrooks

Angels and Demons

 _Glass crunched under foot as the wanderer slowly made his way through the destroyed town, ash floating through the air as it was kicked up by the weak wind. The faint sound of cloth flapping in the breeze was the only other noise that echoed around the dead village._

 _Slowly the wanderer stepped forwards, his single dark blue eye flickering over the decimated surroundings. Faint imprints of life lay scattered around the charred and broken town, remnants of what used to be a bright and vibrant community. He could see it clearly now, buildings that were now charred husks used to be brightly painted homes and stores. Skeletons littered the ground, covered in ash and burnt into pitiful stains that marred the glass. People used to chat and happily go about their daily business. Colourful banners and flags would have flapped merrily atop poles and buildings… but were now little more than ash and discoloured strips of cloth that would disintegrate at the slightest touch._

 _The wanderer had seen it all before though; he had spent almost two years looking for her. Two years confined to the hell on Remnant he had created when he killed his love. He deserved it, he was a monster._

"Foul!" _the child screamed in his mind, raging at the injustice around them._ "You are a foul, loathsome little roach!"

 _The wanderer didn't say anything, he never did anymore. Silence of any kind was a blessing._

"Together we could be great again…" _the horrible synthetic voice rasped, words echoing around his skull._ "The world has forgotten… we could return, become a god."

 _He wasn't sure which voice was worse, the constant condemnation from the child or the bipolar attitude of Mortem._

 _Silence. Wind ghosted through the town; the wanderer's sand coloured tatty rags billowed but quickly settled. A moment of silence seemed to ring louder than any of the other quiet sounds that penetrated the calm, but the moment was shattered when the child spoke again._ "You did this!" _the child hissed,_ "All you! Everything you see here was you!"

 _The wanderer kept moving, ignoring the voices entirely; all they wanted was a reaction from him. His footsteps crunched the glass underfoot as his eye danced over the buildings in silent desperation, searching the ruined structures in the hopes of finding his love._

"She is here," _Mortem rasped, unusual disquiet seeping into his horrible voice._ "The embers are long since dead, but the memory of life remains."

 _The wanderer moved faster, Kira was here. He knew it, he could feel it in his bones._

 _Gradually, the town hall came into view; it had obviously once been a large domed top building made of the strongest sandstone. But now it was a memory, walls charred and shattered in a way that made him think it wasn't just the reactor exploding that had ruined the once exquisite building. No, the scars of a previous battle lingered across the maimed carcass._

"Vile!" _his younger self cried with fury._ "She was a vile beast that deserved to be put down!"

 _Rubble shifted and ground together as the wanderer forced his way into the building; it was dark inside but a few gaping holes in the ceiling did add some meagre amount of light. With utmost care, the mass murderer walked through the tattered and ruined corridor. The darkness was almost oppressive, but the wanderer was content to let the shadows dominate this dead place._

 _As he rounded a corner a skeleton came into view, claw and tooth marks etched into the mangled bones. But what caught his eye was the single clean hole in the centre of the skull; a blade had caused that, not a Grimm._

 _The blonde boy knelt down and flicked out his right wrist blade, slowly sliding the blade into the hole. It was a perfect fit; that could only mean that Kira had been the one to do this._

 _The blade was soon retracted from the dusty skull, and the wanderer stepped further into the building. The darkness grew thicker, and his single blue eye strained to see._ "Light, you fool," _Mortem hissed,_ "you will find nothing in darkness!"

 _The wanderer knew Mortem was right, but still didn't want to acknowledge the beast. He hadn't spoken in months, he wasn't going to start now._

 _The blonde boy brought his hand to bear and a swirling ball of energy came into being. The blackish grey brought little actual illumination, but the blacklight did show things that he had been missing before._

 _Thin gouges wound their way across the floor, scratches and signs of a desperate attempt to escape and get away. They were too thin and deep to be human fingers but also too widely spaced to be Grimm claws._

 _But he knew what they were, Kira had gotten the full upgrade. All her bones had been replaced with extremely dense metal and most organs were either upgraded or outright removed in favour of something else._

 _These scratches… he knew they were from Kira, not her hands, but her_ _ **bones**_ _. The flames must have burnt away the skin…_

 _A single tear escaped the wanderer's eye, the fat glob of water slipping down his cheek and dropping onto the ground. He had done this, he had caused her the untold agony that she must have experienced before her demise._

 _A low whine escaped his mangled throat as he followed the trail, ignoring the condemning words of his past self and the bitterly painful feeling rising in his chest. Eventually he came to a large metal door that stood ajar; the trail of pitiful scratches and claw marks had thinned and led here._

 _She was behind the door._

"You did this!" _Mortem screeched._ "You killed her!"

"She was a taint on Remnant!" _Jaune yelled furiously._ "A blight on society!"

 _Silence._

 _There was nothing, the endless void of nothing stretched out for what felt like years to the wanderer. He had searched for almost two years… all for this moment, to find her._

 _Maybe… maybe there would be some kind of absolution beyond the doorway._

 _With a groaning creak the door was pushed open and the room beyond revealed. A gaping hole in the ceiling illuminated the nightmares within. Darkness seemed to creep into the edge of his single sided vision as the wanderer fell to his knees at the sight before him._

 _Slumped in the corner of the room was Kira, all her skin long since rotted away or devoured by Grimm. Her metal endoskeleton was weakly covered in a layer of dust and the tattered remains of her priest robes. Her hood was pulled up over her face, and her metal jawbone rested on the dusty rib cage._

 _She was dead. Had been for two years._

 _Ever so slowly, the wanderer inched closer to the remains of his greatest friend. The woman that had saved his life so many times he had lost count, his love._

 _Gradually, he got close enough and his hand closed around one of her skeletal metal palms. He desperately pumped all the aura he could into the skeleton, hoping to whatever god existed that just_ _ **once**_ _in his life something would go his way, and she could come back to him somehow._

 _Nothing._

 _His aura flowed through the lifeless metal and returned to his palm. There was nothing; he might as well have been trying to revive a rock._

"She deserved this," _Jaune hissed,_ "this is all she will ever deserve."

 _Tears gushed down the wanderer's face, the tiny splashes of water dropping to the stone ground without a sound and soon soaking into the dust._

"NO NO NO NO NO!" _Mortem howled._

 _For the first time in months, a quiet word slipped out of the wanderer's mangled throat: "Why?"_

 _The word hung in the air for a moment, the silence soon consuming it. The crushing absence of sound seemed to encompass the entire world at that one moment._

 _But it was fleeting._

" _WHY?!" the wanderer screamed, his aura pulsing violently around him. "WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?! IT'S NOT FAIR!"  
_

 _His aura surged out in jagged spikes, violently strobing about the room in a flurry of anger and crushing sadness._

" _I JUST WANT IT TO END!" the wanderer roared, completely unaware that his aura was tearing the room apart._

 _The energy grew stronger, and the single deep blue eye of the wanderer faded away to show pure white. The ceiling blew away, and the walls crumbled into dust in an instant. Rage and sorrow unlike anything else the wanderer had ever experienced warred over his mind in a blinding flurry of emotion that was almost beyond his comprehension._

 _The gale force winds created by his aura grew stronger, and for just an instant the wanderer felt as if all the constant aches and pains of his body had vanished._

 _But then all the barely contained energy exploded; a blinding white ball of energy escaped his body, and everything around him vanished. The town and all the bodies within were wiped away in a blinding flash of power not seen in years._

 _But just as quickly as the power came it vanished, and the blonde boy crumpled to the ground. The decimated town was gone, replaced by a crater filled with naught but ashes._

 _But one thing stood out to the maimed boy._

 _Silence._

 _Absolute silence._

 _Not a whisper, not a word from his past voices. All was quiet. He was whole again._

 _He slumped further into the ashes… he was whole again, but he had no purpose. Kira was dead, her body destroyed by his rage._

 _What would he do? There was nothing for him in this world. With all his might the wanderer tried to jam his wrist blade in his throat, but he couldn't. He couldn't kill himself; the teachings of the Director would not allow it._

 _Tears pooled in his eye but did not escape; he had nothing… no one… he was worthless._

 _Maybe… maybe he could start again? The kingdoms hated him… but they didn't know who he really was. Maybe he could make a new life for himself?_

 _No, he was the worst kind of person alive._

 _But… he couldn't die. He couldn't live either. Maybe…maybe it was time to return home. To Vale._

 _He would need a name though… what was he? He wasn't the Silver Death anymore. He wasn't subject 13B, and he certainly wasn't Jaune Arc. He… was a survivor, the sole survivor of the Director._

 _Sole survivor._

 _Solus Superstes._

 _A miserable snort slipped past his lips at the black humour; the name would do._

Solus' single blue eye locked onto the younger Kira, his mind flashing through the memory in the blink of an eye. This was impossible, Kira was dead. Beyond dead even, there was _nothing_ left of her after he had lost himself to his grief in Vacuo.

But the last dregs of his aura desperately fumbled around the room towards her, even as the clones around him had their necks snapped from her semblance.

She… she was alive. After so many years of loving her he would never forget the feel of her soul, this was her. But it was different as well, with subtle changes around the edges.

This was Kira, but it wasn't.

Resolve filled his mind as Solus clawed towards the girl, his thoughts completely consumed by her as he ignored Ruby.

"13," the not Kira whispered as he drew close, "I-"

"No," he rasped, his hand stopping just inches from touching her face. "You… you're not her."

The young looking girl shook her head. "I'm a clone…"

Solus' vision flashed red for a second. "Do you remember? The pain? The heat?" he needed to know. It may not be her, not really anyway, but she was the closest thing possible.

She nodded.

Solus was on his feet in an instant, his previous injuries completely ignored in favour of the all-consuming rage that coursed through his mind.

In less than the blink of an eye, Solus crossed the room to where Rose and Cinder had been fighting.

His fist crashed against Cinder's face with such force that the woman was thrown across the room and smashed into the wall. Solus was atop her in an instant, his fists raining down blows with force that shook the walls. "YOU HURT HER!" he roared into her face, "YOU MADE HER LIKE ME!"

Again and again the blows smashed into her face. He was completely blind to everything else, deaf to all noise except his words.

But it was not to last; a dainty fist smashed into his abdomen and the merc was sent flailing through the air. A growl escaped Cinder's lips as she pulled herself out of the rubble; a small streak of blood oozed out of a small cut on her cheek, and fury decorated her features. "8!" the elder woman barked. "This is not what you were created for!" fury turned to malice as she looked at the clone of Kira. "Protocol 13B."

In an instant the little Kira clutched her head in agony, her whole body shuddering as the command of her creator burned her copied mind. "I- no! Ahh!" the girl moaned, agony coursing through her mind. "He-" a groan of pain, "no…" finally a begging whisper.

Cinder smirked, ignoring the fact that Solus was charging her again with the intent to pummel her to death. "Obey your master."

With absolute horror in her pale lavender eyes the young Kira shot her hand outwards, a blast of her semblance bursting forth and smashing Solus into a wall.

Without any control of her actions the clone dashed forwards to land a kill blow on her former partner, but he was quick to recover. With a choked gasp, he caught her hands before they could jam wrist blades into his skull. "What are you doing?!" the merc choked out, "Kira it's me! 13!"

On the other side of the room, a bruised and battered Rose turned to her younger counterpart. "A couple clones came in earlier carrying Yang and Blake, I'm pretty sure they're just unconscious. Find them and _don't interfere_ with either Solus' or my fight, you'll only get in the way."

Ruby huffed but accepted the command, knowing that Rose was right.

Rose winced as she turned back to Cinder; things were not going well…

Back with Kira and Solus the merc's heart was breaking. Why would Kira attack him? "13!" she said, her pale lavender eyes conveying nothing but crippling fear. "I- I can't stop!"

Solus threw her off, but she rolled and with the aid of her powerful semblance began hurling crates from around the room at her former love. Solus dodged, but made no move to counter attack. "Kira please! You don't need to listen to her! You are in control!"

The girl shuddered violently, "Please…" she begged as she continued her attack. "She is too powerful… KILL ME PLEASE!"

Tears streamed down the clone's face, and a single moment of hesitation cost Solus dearly. A massive crate full of dust slammed into his side and threw him across the floor. He only had a moment to react, rolling away in the nick of time as another crate slammed down onto where his face had been.

"Kira…" he whispered as he rolled to his feet. "Don't do this! This isn't you! It's her! Please stop this madness!"

For a moment the onslaught of flying projectiles stopped, but they soon picked up pace again, Kira crying out as the flood of missiles continued. "Please just kill me! I'm not her! I'm not Kira! I'm just a clone, a imitation of what was lost!"

Solus wasn't hearing the words; he saw Kira. Finally he moved on the attack, dashing forwards past the flying projectiles and to Kira. In one swift motion his long arms locked around her small frame, holding her tightly even as tears streamed down both of their faces. "You _are_ her, I canfeelit."

The clone struggled against his superior strength, trying to use her semblance to blast him away. But she couldn't, his cold grey aura wrapped around her frame and prevented her from breaking free. "13…" she whispered as her mind struggled against her body. "Kill me, snap my neck _please…_ "

His cold aura warmed slightly, his embrace tightening further. "No I won't, Kira. You won't have to obey her ever again." She felt his aura brush over her own, and suddenly she understood what he meant.

Maybe… that could work.

Using all her willpower and mental fortitude, the young clone forced her aura to obey her for just a moment. But all she needed was one second. In an instant, all the aura in her body channelled into Solus, all her extra power flowing into him and becoming his own. Then a second later she passed out, her body and mind overcome with exhaustion.

Solus laid her gently on the ground, her aura quickly moulding into his own. He felt all his injuries from his previous fights close over and heal, his body rejuvenating back to the condition he was in before fighting the other clones.

Quickly his eye darted across the room, finally landing on Cinder and Rose. Both seemed equally matched, trading blow for blow at a blinding pace that he could hardly see. Okay… he knew what he had to do to end the fight.

With a quick signal to Ruby, Solus was speaking to the younger hunter. "Okay Ruby, take Kira to the others, then make sure that all of you get the hell out of this place."

The silver eyed girl glanced at the passed out form of Kira warily but didn't comment on it. "What about you? I can't just leave you and Rose here with her!"

Solus smirked; he could feel the energy dancing through his body in preparation already. "Remember that Nevermore from initiation?" he asked seemingly at random, seeing her hesitant nod he continued. "Think about it Ruby," he pressed. "Imagine getting blasted in the face with that kind of power."

Ruby was silent for a moment, but then a thin smile spread across her face. "Yeah, blast her away Solus."

Solus nodded tightly. "Now go, get them out of here."

Ruby nodded, then with a burst of semblance-aided speed ran over to the fallen females in the corner of the room. After a few moments of struggling, she began dragging them out and away from the fight.

Solus looked over to Cinder and Rose; the time traveller was beginning to falter. He could see that her movements were becoming slightly more sluggish, and each dodge or block she made required far greater effort. A vicious smile broke out across the merc's face; if Cinder thought she could win this then she had another thing coming.

His smile faltered however when he thrust his hands out on either side of him and began gathering energy, golden lightning dancing up his arms as power surged through his body. The fake muscles on his right arm began to heat up, the burning pain only spurred him on more however.

Gradually the energy began to build up even more, the heat cooking the skin off his upper right arm to show the glowing red metal. Sparks raced over his body as he groaned in agony, his skin beginning to smoke as the energy became almost too much for him to handle.

He felt the blood rushing through his body in a frenzied pace as he brought his hands together in front of him, an enormous ball of golden energy sizzling and crackling almost as if begging to be released.

This was it, he couldn't fail now. If he did… he shuddered at the thought.

"Rose!" he barked in a loud voice, "Move!"

The winded time traveller barely spared a glance in his direction before her eyes widened, her mouth forming a small 'O' before she grinned.

A moment later she charged at Cinder, but just at the last second before they met the silver eyed woman leapt to the side. "NOW!" she cried.

In one blinding moment of absolute power, Solus let the energy shoot forwards in a beam of dark golden light. Cinder didn't have time to dodge; a brief look of terror crossed her features before the energy consumed her.

For a few moments it felt like the entire world shook, the beam of energy tearing through the mountain and out into the open air in a showing of momentous power. But soon the energy faded and Solus collapsed to his knees; blackness crept into the edge of his vision for a moment, but he fought it off.

Slowly with sweat pouring down his face Solus rose to his feet, his right arm dangling almost uselessly. He could hardly feel his arm anymore, the fake muscles were almost totally cooked. He'd have to manage however.

Rose made her way over to him and helped him stand, her face decorated by thick bruises and a thin cut on her forehead. "Way to go Solus," she said tiredly. "Thanks for jumping in there, I wasn't doing too well. I thought I could take her on my own but hey, I won't look a gift horse in the mouth."

Solus just nodded as he ambled over to the gaping hole in the ceiling. Gentle sunlight poured in, and Solus just closed his eyes and basked in the soft warmth.

A nearby pile of rubble exploded outwards, and to Rose and Solus' mounting horror a bloodied Cinder stood; she was covered in blood and burns, her hair frayed and her face half scorched. "No," she said in a deceptively calm voice. "I have come this far, lived this long… I will not be defeated by mere _children_."

Rose hefted the faded and worn Crescent Rose threateningly. "I don't think you have a choice, you have been beaten. Surrender and I'll make it quick."

Cinder laughed; a dry, humourless croak that grated painfully on the ears of the other two people in the room. "Me? Beaten? Foolish girl, the only thing you've achieved here today is accelerating my plans and hastening your demise."

Solus' single eye widened a fraction, terror clawing at his heart as he frantically looked across the room. Dozens, if not hundreds of crates of dust were stacked in neat orderly piles; some had been moved or damaged because of the fighting and their contents spilled across the ground.

"Rose…" Solus said as his eye finally landed back onto his ally. "T-the dust…"

"Dust?" Rose questioned before her eyes widened to the extreme upon coming to the same conclusion as Solus. "NO!" she cried as she charged the elder woman, trying to stop the inevitable.

But it was too late. A burning red glyph seared into the floor around the chamber, and both Solus and Rose were blasted backwards and into the far wall. The concrete cracked as their bodies collided but that was the least of their worries.

The glowing red symbol that was burnt into the floor began to hum ominously with energy. The crates of dust stacked around the room began to shake themselves apart, but instead of the dust pouring over the ground it all floated into the air, crackling with power.

The bloodied form of Cinder rose into the centre of the room seemingly beyond her control; strong winds whirled throughout the chamber and only the dust and Cinder seemed unaffected.

Vainly with all their strength Solus and Rose tried to fight the impossible winds and make their way to Cinder, but the effort was for naught as they were immediately blown backwards into the wall again.

The dust around the room glowed and swirled around Cinder in a sphere of shining energy, the woman almost invisible behind the crystals and powder. Then for just one moment everything stood still, the glowing red glyph burning even brighter. The power in the room made the mountain shudder, then in a blinding explosion of light everything stopped.

Solus and Rose fell to their knees, their eyes stung from the light and their minds hurt from an almost unbearable pressure that seemed to hover in the room. A light, feminine chuckle echoed through the almost silent room.

With watering eyes Solus and Rose looked upwards and saw Cinder; the elder woman was devoid of any injuries, and her entire body glowed with black light.

"N-no…" Rose whispered, her eyes glistening with tears in the face of her failure to prevent the horror before her.

"Yes…" Cinder purred, her eyes focused in the hand she held before her face examining her flawless skin and aura. "This will do nicely…"

In a burst of energy that Solus didn't realise he had, the merc jumped to his feet and charged at the elder woman with his family sword drawn. He ignored the cries of Rose begging him to stop; with a mighty war cry the merc swung his sword downwards with all his might at Cinder's head.

Without even _looking_ at him Cinder raised her hand, finger extended and the blade screeched to a halt. Solus forced the blade downwards as hard as he could but nothing happened, still she held the razor sharp sword with a single finger as if it were nothing.

Solus howled with fury; he wouldn't let this happen, he had to kill her.

He pulled the blade back and swung, this time attempting to bisect her horizontally. Again she didn't even look at him as she blocked the strike with a single dainty finger. Again and again Solus swung his sword, but she just blocked every strike with a single finger. Eventually after almost 20 vicious swings of his sword, Cinder looked at him.

Instantly he knew he was fucked, the look in her eye was one of absolute _boredom_. A small, almost indulgent look crossed her face for a second, then the finger holding the sword back glowed red for just a moment.

Solus jumped backwards and dropped the burning hot sword handle to the ground with a hiss of pain, but instead of hearing a dull clatter of metal falling to stone there was a wet sounding _plop_.

Pure horror and pain flashed across Solus' mind as he looked at what remained of his family sword; it had been his last connection to his family… and now it was gone.

Laying on the ground was a silver puddle of molten metal that _used_ to be Crocea Mors.

Solus snarled in absolute rage, his eye flashed white and in a burst of speed that was normally beyond him he lashed out at the smirking woman and attempted to strike her in the face.

But she was oblivious to his anger; with horrifying ease she caught his punch and stopped him dead in his tracks. Consumed by his fury, Solus attempted to overpower the woman with pure strength but she didn't even move an inch under his impressive might.

With her free hand, Cinder lazily reached out and just poked the deranged merc in the chest.

Solus was thrown backwards with such force that he was hurled through the entire mountain, his ribs absolutely shattered and organs pulverised to a bloody pulp.

His rage left him as the merc lay on the grass dying; his eye returned to its natural blue and he croaked in supreme agony.

In the blink of an eye Cinder stood above him, a smirk of victory smearing her face. Then as soon as she appeared, she was gone.

The last thing Solus knew before his vision failed was Rose crying out his name and running towards him.

Then darkness consumed everything.

 **A/N**

 **Yeah… so that happened.**

 **I really have nothing to say about all that, I'll leave it up to you guys to draw your own conclusions on just how epicly fucked the protagonists are.**

 **Reviews:**

 **Pear:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Solus is changing, like you said though it's very gradual. People don't change overnight and people certainly don't pour out their life story to someone they met a few days prior (A thinly veiled jab at most RWBY stories on this site).**

 **As for him getting redemption… well, no frankly I doubt that it would be possible for me to realistically write that. So perhaps 'Redemption' isn't the right word, maybe something more accurate would be 'Acceptance'.**

 **Smithrooks:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Can you honestly say you would be content with with the story if everything turned out perfectly okay and no one was hurt?**

 **This particular version of Kira while strong, isn't even close to the level of what the original was before her demise. All the memories may be there, but the physical aspect is not; all the power she holds now is an atrophied shell of what she was.**

 **As for a single pair of Emerald and Mercury being able to defeat Solus... well depending on the situation I'd really say it could go either way. Bear in mind however that the original pair that Solus was fighting before the others joined in was a elder and far more powerful duo, unlike the younger pair that Yang and Blake lost to. Oh and it should be noted that while the elder clones have certainly gotten training from Cinder they did not get the upgrades that the Director was planning to give to his subjects; Cinder lacks the knowledge and ability to administer the procedure the Director was giving to his subjects.**

 **Good thing too, Rose and the other seem pretty screwed as is; so I doubt they would be able to deal with much more.**

 **Leysa907:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Thanks! I always try my hardest to keep up with reviews, and rest assured that I will finish this story I have come too far just to drop it now.**

 **Dspendragon125:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Um… while I certainly appreciate your enthusiasm I don't think I'd be able to do that. My writing style tends to lean towards the grim and macabre as a pose to happy cheerful stuff like that. I'd be more that happy for someone else to do it however, although I'd suggest waiting until I wrap up this story first.**

 **Nik41:**

 **Thanks for reviewing**

 **Things certainly are getting exciting aren't they? All the more fun for me to write.**

 **Guest:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Thanks!**

* * *

 **Don't forget to review!**


	44. Twilight

Edge of Life

Chapter Forty Three

Beta: Smithrooks

Twilight

 _Darkness._

 _Endless darkness surrounded her. The crushing black silence that filled the caverns seemed to stretch forever around Ruby. Even the small island of light caused by the sputtering torch didn't do much, the blackness around her seemed offended by the mere presence of the red headed woman and her companion._

 _Ruby looked at the maimed and pale form of Weiss as they walked quickly through the black void. Weiss had been weak and sickly ever since the horrible day they had found Solus, crippled by the insane strength he held and then burnt savagely across the right side of her face by the monstrously powerful aura blasts he threw around like candy._

 _Ruby couldn't help but marvel at the strength of the other woman sometimes; even during the dark years when Solus was on the loose, she held herself firm and proud to be a Schnee. Ruby honestly didn't know if she would have been able to do it, in the years since the utter destruction of Vale and the other kingdoms Ruby had found herself almost without any desire to continue._

' _What was the point?' she had thought. Solus had ruined_ _ **everything**_ _and in the brief but terrible battle he had with the Queen the world had gotten even bleaker. The negativity caused by the two god-like beings had caused the Grimm to almost quadruple in numbers, something that even the kingdoms at full power wouldn't have been able to handle. But then? They were screwed, beyond that even._

 _The last of humanity had been driven underground in a desperate attempt to stave off extinction. Ruby had been pale before, but now that sunlight hadn't touched her for years? It was almost like she had become a ghost._

 _She and Weiss had hated Solus for years, despised what he had become and wanted nothing more than to kill him and return things to the way they used to be._

 _But when their desire to see the insane man dead had come true… the burning hate they had felt might as well have been doused with a bucket of ice water._

 _Jaune Arc hadn't been a bad person, he wasn't a villain. The AIs had told her everything: his past, who he was, who he became… it was a tragic story really. Years of hate and suffering and then when he had some small chance, a small hope that he could become a better person? That hope had been crushed when Shirou had taken his just revenge._

 _She didn't hate him anymore, and she certainly didn't pity him. Pity who he used to be perhaps… but never what he became._

" _Ruby," Weiss rasped weakly as they stopped walking, the faint torchlight showing a metallic wall with a few pits and scars. "This is it. Break the wall down."_

 _Ruby quickly complied with her last remaining friend's request. With an almost lazy swing of her free hand and the faded Ember Celica, the metal burst inwards and revealed a corridor with two flickering holograms within._

 _One of the holograms was garbed like a priest and had raven black hair that flowed gently down her shoulders. "Sarcastic statement: You could have used the door you know."_

 _Ruby bobbed her head neutrally at the snipe the dead Kira made, she knew that the AI didn't really care._

 _Weiss let out a gasp of muted shock upon seeing the second hologram, her single fully functional eye widening in slight terror before the woman could fully compose herself._

 _Ruby looked at the second image carefully; the deep blue aura that seeped off the hologram showed that it was the Iota fragment._

 _His joy._

 _The hologram shuddered and shook with laughter, its frame convulsing at the jarring howls of insane amusement. "HAHAHA STAINED SNOW AND A BLOODIED ROSE COME TO DANCE, HAHAHA!"_

" _Snappish statement: Enough Iota, we have guests," Kira muttered in the dead monotone that all the AIs had._

 _The colour of the insane projection shifted to a pale blue, his form straightening as he stopped laughing. "Yes…" it whispered slowly. "I remember these ones. The Schnee, scorched by aura and maimed by justice. The Rose, deadened by reality and awakened by desire. I remember…" he trailed off into mutters that neither of the two living girls could hear._

" _Ruby… are you sure it's safe to go in there?" Weiss questioned, her single good eye never leaving the hologram of her greatest fear._

 _But instead of Ruby answering, the projection of Kira did: "Condescending answer: Of course it's safe little Schnee, if he were still able to access any systems beyond holo-projection you would already be dead."_

" _See Weiss?" Ruby snorted with false humour. "It's totally safe!"_

 _Finally, Weiss' gaze broke away from the muttering and whimpering projection of Solus and landed on Kira. The maimed girl blinked, "You're taller than I thought you would be, Red Lady," she let slip._

" _Rhetorical question: Am I taller? Or are you smaller?"_

" _Funny," the girl in stained white glared._

" _As amusing as this is," Ruby vaguely gestured with her hand, "can we hurry up? The Attero device isn't light after all." She was referring to the heavy metal chest she had slung over her shoulders._

 _The projection of Kira nodded, then both she and Solus winked out of existence. Weiss stepped through the hole and into the facility proper, her single good eye darting around in thinly veiled interest. "So this is where Doctor Braun ended up…" she muttered as Ruby began leading her towards the arena._

 _As they entered the spacious room, the two girls were greeted by the sight of Summer Rose standing side by side with Kira and the Director. The room was filled with cables and wires as well as several computers. "Joyful statement: Ruby it's so good to see you again, since your last visit I feared that you had forgotten about us," Summer declared in dull monotone, as she stepped towards her daughter._

" _Hey mum," Ruby replied awkwardly as the projection stared at her. "It was just hard to get here, what with the surface being overrun and all."_

" _Acknowledgement: Of course dear, are you alright? You weren't injured on your trip here?"_

 _Before Ruby could answer she was cut off by Braun. "Spiteful interruption: Enough petty sentiment. Did you bring the device?"_

" _Yes we did," Weiss groaned as she set herself down on a nearby chair. "I trust you can have it installed soon? The Grimm weren't far behind us and I fear time is running short."_

" _Unnecessary bluster: Of course we can Schnee, who do you take me for?" If it were possible for an emotionless machine to be offended then Braun certainly was._

" _Jolly," Ruby said as she set down the heavy metal crate and let several small robots buzz around it. "This place hasn't changed since I was last here, I sort of figured that it would fall apart eventually."_

 _The projection of Kira stepped forwards. "Thick sarcasm: Trust me, even before he went insane 13 didn't clean the place."_

" _Yeah," Ruby sighed as she sat down. "I suppose Jaune never was much for keeping things tidy."_

 _The projection of the man in question appeared, his form coloured teal and flickering weakly in the light. Everyone recognized it as Gamma, his deceit. "Jaune? JAUNE? Not Jaune, never Jaune!"_

" _Jaune…" Ruby said slowly, "you are him, you just need time to accept that."_

 _The hologram shifted colours, this time becoming pale blue. Epsilon again. "NO! You've had my fucking time. I have to answer for what I did: to Yang, to Blake, to Kira, to Summer. And to her, to RUBY!"_

 _The mad ranting of the crazy fragment wasn't directed to anyone in particular, more just to himself as he twitched and paced. "I remember what I've done, SOMEBODY has to!"_

" _Calming statement: Shh 13, it's okay," Summer said as her form suddenly appeared near Jaune._

 _He whirled to her, "Not all of us got off scot free SUMMER!" his colour shifted to a deep emerald green; it was Delta, his logic. "I was brilliant," he shifted again, a deep navy blue. Theta, his trust. "And they trusted me!" another shift, becoming Gamma again in a haze of teal light. "But I lied to them! I twisted and-" another shift, becoming grey. Omega, his rage. "TORTURED THEM! AND USED THEM!" again he changed; flame-like wisps licked at his form as his voice became almost dual toned. "MANIPULATED THEM FOR MY OWN PURPOSES, ONLY FOR WHAT?! THIS… THIS_ _ **SHADOW?!**_ _" he gestured to himself._

" _Hush now Jaune…" Ruby soothed the gibbering projection. "The time for that has passed."_

 _The projection regained his steel grey hue, Omega. "NO! NO TIME! NO SOFT WORDS!"_

" _Delighted resolution: The other programs and I have reached a decision Ruby," the flickering copy of the Director shouted over the howling of the clearly mad Jaune._

 _The image of Solus changed to the pale blue of Epsilon and began prowling through the room, muttering things neither Weiss nor Ruby could quite pick up. "And that would be?" Ruby questioned as her silver gaze followed Jaune._

" _Satisfied declaration: He will be going with you."_

 _Ruby staggered as if slapped, "Wait what? B-but I thought that we hardly had enough power to open the portal and send me through! How could we bring him along as well?"_

" _Accusatory statement: Yes, but the Director didn't want to spend eternity trapped with him," Kira stated with a dull look to 13 as he paced around. Personal theory: truthfully, I suspect the Director just wishes for silence once more."_

 _A thunderous crash and screech of metal tore through the conversation, the howls of Grimm coming ever closer. "Sorrowful observation: the Grimm have broken into the facility; the facility defences are online but the beasts are far too numerous. We have only minutes remaining."_

 _Ruby and Weiss knew what the defences were, hard-light projections of the dead subjects. "Humorous regret: I must go help the defence, I haven't killed anything in years." With nary a flash of light Kira vanished._

" _Fragile hope: I too must go. Be safe Ruby; fix this, all of this." And then Summer had vanished._

 _A swirling vortex of unstable violet rippled into existence; the lights in the room flickered and the projections of the Director and Jaune died out. "It's not stable yet!" Weiss shouted over the howl of Grimm. "We need more time!"_

" _I'm not sure we have much time left Weiss…" Ruby replied as she fidgeted._

 _Slowly one of the small robots that help set up the device scuttled towards Ruby, a cube-shaped object clutched in its tiny claws. Before Ruby could demand to know what it was a tiny projection of Solus appeared, only about a foot tall and held the sharp golden hues of Eta; Fear._

" _No! Mother!" the projection howled in terror. "Mother, where are you!? I need you!"_

 _Ruby sighed and switched the small projector off, she would take him with her but she couldn't listen to his madness right now; there were too many things to do._

 _There was a thunderous crash against the door to the chamber, the metal held strong but a deep dent the shape of a Beowolf marred the metal. "Come on Weiss, we don't have much time," Ruby muttered as she straightened her back, glaring into the spinning violet vortex._

" _Just a few more moments!" the sickly girl cried over the sounds of battle. "It's drawing on the last of the power supply!"_

 _Ruby knew what that meant; it was draining power from Sanctuary, the last remaining safe zone. In a few moments the underground fortress would be powerless and almost utterly defenceless, Ruby really hoped it was worth it. If this failed then they would have doomed the last dregs of society for nothing._

 _The portal drew even more power and Weiss let out a hacking cough; a small splatter of blood escaped the pale girl's lips but Ruby didn't comment. Weiss was dying, had been for years and nothing would change that._

 _After what seemed like hours, Weiss finally spoke, "The portal is open." The words came out weakly, her voice frail despite her inner strength._

 _Ruby didn't say anything, she just nodded. Her silver gaze locked onto the single best hope for humanity._

 _There was another thunderous boom of Grimm on metal from outside the room, and the door bent further inwards._

" _You're sure this will work?" Weiss questioned, her form slipping lower into the chair._

 _Ruby bobbed her head and looked at the portal, the swirling violet almost hypnotizing. "He is the key…"_

 _A low, rattling sigh escaped the crippled girl. "Very well then… it has been an honour Ruby."_

 _Ruby took a step towards the portal; her gaze flickered to Weiss for a moment but was soon replaced back to the spinning violet. "The pleasure is all mine Weiss."_

 _Nothing more was said as Ruby stepped through the portal. Pain like a thousand red hot knives spearing through all her nerves bore down on her, a smattering of colours and sounds she had never perceived before assaulting her senses. She spent what felt like years floating through the unbearable torment, until finally she saw something she had almost went insane over._

 _A small rip of pure white light hovered at the edge of perception; with body and darkness enhanced fury, Ruby reached out and plunged her hand into the rip. Her fingers closed around the edge on the other side, rage driving her forwards as Ruby pulled herself through._

 _Finally she managed to get through, the portal closing with a snap behind her. The fury slowly left Ruby as she looked around her; ice, snow and bitter winds assaulted her face. But she didn't care, the last dregs of anger left her as for the first time in years Ruby felt the sun on her face._

 _The gentle light caressed her body; it had been so long since she had felt such light…_

 _Ruby tore her gaze away from the weak sunlight and on to her spectators. She could feel them, such weak little versions of the people she used to know. "Mum?" the younger version of herself asked brokenly._

 _Ruby suppressed a snort, weak indeed if they couldn't tell she wasn't Summer. "No, my name is Ruby Rose, and I'm from the future."_

 _Ruby didn't much care for their reactions, it didn't matter too much if they didn't believe her. All that mattered was Jaune, he was the key to this. If she could save Jaune then she could save the world._

 _Now it just remained to be seen whether or not Jaune_ _ **wanted**_ _to be saved._

Rose cradled the bloody and mangled form of Solus close to her as she staggered off the Bullhead stolen from what remained of Cinder's facility. The Queen had disappeared as soon as she was done with Solus, and Rose had little doubt as to _where_ she was going; no doubt Ozpin would be dead within the hour if not sooner.

How could she have let things come to this? Everything had been going so well… she may have underestimated the old witch's power by a great deal, enough so that Rose herself had been losing since the beginning of the fight; but when she absorbed the dust that's when Rose knew they had lost.

The ancient woman wasn't even close to being as powerful as she had been in Rose's timeline, not even a fraction of _that_ level of power was present. But still, with the level she was at… there was nothing Rose could do, nothing _anyone_ could do to stop her! Maybe if they set the entire military on her at once they could kill her, but by then the damage would have been done. Beacon destroyed, Vale in tatters, hundreds dead…

She had failed. Ruby had come here to save the people of this timeline, and instead she had damned them.

Solus made a wet sounding gurgle as she gently laid his mangled body onto the operating table within the Director's facility. The only reason he was still alive was because she had been constantly pouring what was left of her own aura into his maimed form, but the damage was too great to heal with aura alone. Charred internal organs as well as having almost every bone in his body shattered into hundreds of pieces, he was a wreck. If he was _extremely_ lucky he may survive… but he would never fight again, he would forever be relegated to living a shadow of true life; his mind trapped in a shell that could hardly contain life.

And it was all her fault.

She should have seen this coming, should have predicted this. Rose lashed out in fury and smacked her fist into a nearby wall; the metal dented under her impressive might but held firm.

 _Okay, calm down…_ she thought to herself as silent tears leaked out of her silver eyes. _I… I can try again, find a way to recreate the Attero device…_

"Ruby…" a disturbingly weak voice rasped wetly from the surgical table nearby.

Rose rushed over to Solus, her gaze locking onto his mutilated form as he stared into her eyes. "Save your strength Solus. You can survive this…"

A wet and painful sounding cough racked his half dead frame. "Not without help," he rasped weakly.

Rose didn't want to hear it, that… he couldn't. "Solus…" she whispered beggingly. "Don't do this… you and I we- we can try again! Go into the past together, you don't need _that_ to survive…"

"Ruby…" his voice was weak, rasping and fragile. "This is where I belong-" a deep, bloody cough escaped his lips. "I… finally know how to end it."

"Solus…" she murmured, salty tears dropping onto his prone form.

"G-go if you must," his eye drooped, the smell of burnt skin hanging in the air like a shadow. "But I will-" he paused, and for one terrible moment she thought he had died. "I will fight."

Rose looked at him; he didn't say anything else. The mechanical doctor hovered around on the other side of the table, and in the corner of the room she saw the AI version of the Director. No words were spoken, Rose took a deep breath then simply nodded to the director.

He didn't say anything, the dead eyes of the projection betraying no emotion. But she knew that he understood; the Director may have been a heartless bastard, but he hated Cinder just as much as she did.

 _So be it._ Rose thought to herself, all thoughts of running away gone. _I suppose… all good things must end eventually._

The time traveller looked at Solus; the maimed man's single eye was open and staring at her. Slowly, she leant over him and placed a gentle kiss on his battered lips. "I'll see you on the other side… Jaune."

He didn't say anything, his single eye gleaming with unidentifiable emotion.

With quiet resolution hardening her features Rose stepped out of the chamber and set a brisk pace back towards the stolen Bullhead; if she was going to try helping the others, then she'd need to get there quickly.

 **A/N**

 **So this chapter is mostly for build up, but I still felt it necessary because it finally showed the very small slice of romance that I promised. But like I warned you all in earlier chapters what little romance there is will all be side stuff to the main plot, it will never take over and there won't become primary for the story.**

 **That said let's take a look at the reviews:**

 **Julini** **:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Do you really think getting the upgrade would help? The upgrade would tear away everything that he is and recreate him as something else.**

 **Smithrooks:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Yeah things really aren't looking good are they... oh well, that just makes it more fun to write haha.**

 **You are correct that Cinder isn't as powerful as she was in the primary timeline, so much weaker in fact that even the weakest of the fragments would be able to defeat her with minimal effort. Mind you that's not to say that Cinder isn't powerful, hell no. She could still utterly crush whomever was stupid enough to fight her, but as Rose correctly points out in the next chapter Cinder may be defeated if the set the world's armies on her... but by then they would have lost too much. Something of a Catch 22 really.**

 **Ozpins power level is slightly tricky, in a purely physical sense he was only just able to defeat Mortem. But as advanced as the simulator is it still fails account for every variable... nor can it sustain use of more explosive fighting styles, its still just a classroom after all. So Ozpin isn't quite as outclassed as you think, he has more up his sleeve than 'hit my opponent really hard with my cane until they die'.**

 **Don't get me wrong, if Cinder went all out with her current power then Ozpin would be paste in about 30 seconds. Which realistically isn't something she's gonna do; she has been planning this for the past 80ish years... she will ensure that Ozpin see just how epic his failure is before she kills him. In terms of raw power Ozpin is ridiculously outclassed, it would be like setting a toddler to fight pro wrestler; even worse when said wrestler is also completely amoral and has planned to kill the toddler for the better part of a century…**

 **Guest:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Thanks! Cliff hangers are always fun to write.**

 **TheMAO17:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Yeah when has playing god ever worked out well for anyone? Rose just failed to understand that every action has its own unique repercussions, her arrival backfired spectacularly because it Cinder on guard expecting an attack from the unknown new power.**

 **To be fair, Solus was 'alive' in the original timeline and although it is as of yet unspecified the Kira clone did exist as well... but Cinder found it 'lacking' upon its completion.**

* * *

 **Thanks for reading and remember to leave a review!**


	45. Reunion

Edge of Life

Chapter Forty Four

Beta: Smithrooks

Reunion

Rain was pouring down, violent streaks of water that tore through the school alongside gale force winds. Ozpin stared out the window in his office; grey light filtered in past the rain from the sun that was doubtlessly still shining behind the wild storm clouds.

The ancient man sipped his coffee slowly; he could feel the auras of all those that resided within his school. The young, pure souls floating around their dorm rooms in the late afternoon, the four utterly distraught spirits that were currently ascending the elevator to his office; three of which he knew to be the female members of RSYB and the fourth being… an artificial black that seemed to burn away any light aside from the single pure glimmer hidden so deeply.

And… he could feel Cinder. Something had happened, her power had grown tremendously; her aura now dwarfing any other being on the planet. It was only a matter of time now before she would come, and she would no doubt kill him.

The elevator door opened and out poured the girls, all of them looking greatly worse for wear. Ozpin's eyes glided over the children before him, something had happened. They had been missing this afternoon; perhaps they knew why Cinder was currently moving towards Beacon at an extremely alarming rate.

"Professor!" Ruby yelled as soon as she dashed up to him, "Solus! And-and the Queen! Cinder!" her words were coming out as babbles, but Ozpin had enough experience with children to know what she meant.

"Calm yourself miss Rose," he said smoothly despite the disquiet his old spirit felt. "Cinder is on her way here." She and the others gasped, their eyes widening. "There is little that can be done now I fear, but nevertheless we shall prepare Beacons defences; If Ashlynn is seeking a battle, she shall find one."

Even as Ozpin moved towards his desk so he could alert the school of the impending danger, he regarded the fourth aura that was not a student. He knew who she was, younger and no doubt a result of the witch's machinations; the Red Lady. The foul feeling of her aura was the product of the self-proclaimed 'Queen', but he wasn't particularly concerned; if Cinder had planned to use her as some sort of pre-emptive strike then that had failed. The clone's aura was mired by darkness, but right in the very heart there was a shard of light. Of _love_.

Gently the elder headmaster pressed the button for the school wide intercom, a small click indicating the entire school could now hear him. "Attention all residents of Beacon Academy," his voice echoed, the aura of every student and teacher listening. "Within a few minutes, our school will come under attack from an extremely powerful enemy."

The hundred plus auras of the students and professors flickered in shock, any dregs of their fatigue from the day forgotten. "This school has stood as a beacon of hope for centuries; thousands of hunters have passed through these hallowed halls. The enemy seeks to lay waste to this, to eradicate that which she no longer understands… but if we fight, if we stand united against this darkness, then the light will prevail."

"I call unto you residents of Beacon; man the battlestations, defend our school."

He could feel the roar of approval throughout the young and old souls within the school, hundreds of people rushing to equip themselves and prepare for the battle ahead. Slowly, he turned to the girls that still stood on the other side of his office. "Well girls… I suggest you go to your required posts."

The three RSYB girls didn't move; instead the young raven haired girl stepped forwards, her pale lavender eyes downcast. "Ozpin." He didn't miss the venom that accompanied her saying his name. "We don't have much hope of winning this, she's too powerful."

Ozpin didn't reply to her immediately, instead he gestured for the other girls to leave. Yang and Blake left quickly without much fuss, but Ruby lingered for just a few moments, her silver eyes darting between Ozpin and the clone rapidly, but eventually she relented and left the room.

"And what do you propose?" Ozpin asked the remaining girl, his cane held before him firmly. "That we just lay down and accept our fate? That we just roll over and die? I daresay that's a plan that would be poorly received by all within the school."

The small girl began pacing, her young dark aura pulsing gently as it regenerated from previous use. "No… we could just run. Leave this place."

"To what end? She will follow me to the ends of Remnant, nothing I hold dear is safe from that woman. When she is done with me she will turn her gaze to the rest of the kingdom, she may be defeated eventually… but by then it will be far too late."

Everything in the room shook for a second, a small shudder caused by the emotions of the young clone. "But… surely there must be a way to stop her! Some way to appease her! Anything!"

Despite knowing who the girl was cloned from Ozpin felt a small pulse of pity for the girl, so consumed by her fear and hatred… so similar to Solus. "Calm yourself little one, there is always hope," he said smoothly; her pacing slowed at his calming words. "I know who you are, and I don't begrudge you for the choices of those before you." She looked at him, her pale lavender eyes conveying little emotion beyond acceptance.

"If you know who I am then you will try to kill me." The words came out in absolute monotone, complete certainty behind the statement.

The far older human sighed, his spirit feeling weary after years of seeing the young suffer. He would not allow it to happen any more than was possible. "No my Lady, I will not. Your presence here tells me all I need to know about your allegiances, whatever sins you committed were washed away in death." He paused, the words quickly formulating in his mind. "As long as you don't seek to harm any students you may leave this place, but if you wish to stay and lend your might to our coming struggle against Cinder then I would be a fool to turn you away."

The clone was silent, her eyes locked onto the aged headmaster. Finally, a slight bob of her head; Ozpin nodded grimly.

It was time to go to battle.

* * *

Rain poured down, what little light was left was fading as the sun settled behind the horizon. The walls of Beacon were raised; students and teachers alike stood guard, their gaze hard and strong in preparation for any kind of attack. Not a word was said, the only sound was the thunderous hail of the rain.

Ozpin stood atop the gates, the courtyard behind him and the landing pads for the Bullheads on the other side of the collapsible wall.

Minutes were spent waiting in dead silence, only a mounting feeling of unnatural fear and pressure alerting the watchful defenders that danger was coming their way.

Finally after what felt like hours but was really little more than a minute or two, a thunderous crash was heard. The metal walls shook in their foundations, each defender that could moving to a position from which they could see what caused the noise.

Standing before the gate and by extension Ozpin, was Cinder Fall. The ancient woman stood tall and completely dry despite the gushing rain, heat and power radiating off her in huge waves; the vast majority of those that laid their eyes on her felt a sudden urge to run and hide from the obvious predator.

"Ozpin!" the name boomed like thunder from her lips, making the vast majority of the defenders flinch. "You know why I'm here!"

The headmaster nodded solemnly, then he spoke into a small metal device that amplified his calm voice. "If I go with you… will you leave this place? Will you harm anyone within this kingdom?"

The heat radiating from her seemed to grow even fiercer, her eyes blazing with fury. "I will take what is rightfully mine! All that you took from me and more!"

Ozpin seemed to slump for a brief moment, but quickly his posture straightened and gaze became like iron. "I did what I had to do Ashlynn, were you in my position you would have done the same."

"NO!" she howled in fury, the ground beneath her beginning to burn in sync with her mounting rage. "I would rather have died a thousand times over than abandon them! They meant more to me than all of Remnant!" her fists were shaking, flames coming out of her hands in sporadic bursts. "I had thought you would have felt the same about your own _children_ but you left all of us to die!"

"For the greater good of us all," the man replied weakly, his eyes hard but still glistening with small tears. "Please Ashlynn, it doesn't have to be this way. You don't have to do this!"

"I will do what I must, old man."

Ozpin sighed, death loomed ever closer. The pale, fake aura of hundreds of clones slowly sprouted across Vale; his heart hardened, he would have use all his power to fight her… he could only hope that would be enough.

"Everyone!" he yelled, his voice amplified across all the students and teachers. "To Vale at once! Her army attacks there!"

Cinder said nothing, did nothing as a thunderous roar of outrage burst forth from the much younger hunters.

All of them quickly poured into the Emerald Forest; the only land path into the city.

Ozpin dully noted that the Red Lady and the female members of RSYB had stayed, far enough away to stay out of the fight but still close enough to watch. _So be it._

"You think you're the only master of Dust Ashlynn?" the wizened headmaster called out as he gathered his strength, feeling the aches and pains of age fade away under the influence of his rising power. "You thought you could just come here and kill me? Destroy Vale? Well think again!"

His cane glowed with pure power as Ozpin swung it violently at his enemy. Three huge chunks of the metal wall tore off and rocketed towards the woman at speeds similar to missiles, but were melted into slag as soon as they came even remotely close to her.

Feeling the heat rising in his blood, Ozpin roared. "YOU THINK THAT YOU ARE THE ONLY MASTER OF FLAME?" a massive jet of fire shot forwards towards the witch.

She sneered, and with a simple gesture the flames parted.

Her sneer deepened when she swung her feet around, a massive wave of fire shooting out in every direction. The wall that Ozpin had been standing on melted almost instantly, but he had already moved. A moment before it was too late, he hurled a molten chunk of metal towards Cinder.

She dodged long before the attack came near her, leaping into the air with flames to sustain her flight. Her right hand shot outwards and a massive gust of flame shot forth, but the aged headmaster swiped outwards with both his hands and the flames parted, barely.

Another gust of flame, he barely had time to defend himself. The stream of fire shot forwards and only in the nick of time did he manage to shoot a powerful gust of wind forwards to block the flame. But the strength was almost too much, the aged headmaster flew backwards and into the sodden courtyard.

Cinder's attack continued; she spun in mid-air and a huge vertical line of fire whipped downwards to where Ozpin was.

Despite the gushing rain that made his clothes sodden, Ozpin moved with the speed of a man a century younger; his glowing cane lashed out above him and the burning attack dissipated. Another violent swing of his cane, and a massive chunk of stone from the ground shot towards Ashlynn.

She dodged nimbly with little to no effort, sending another gust of fire at her most hated enemy.

But Ozpin dodged yet again, completely avoiding the violent attack from the woman. This time as he dodged he swiped his cane smoothly through the pounding rain, demanding that it obey him.

The water snapped to his command and in an instant a massive burst of icy water was sent in Cinder's direction. She dodged it but he was unrelenting, again and again he whipped his cane and huge waves of ice and water soared towards her.

But it all evaporated moments before it came near her, the heat exuding from her body far too great for the liquid to come close. Soon she grew bored and sent another stream of powerful flames towards him; the aged headmaster flipped backwards and forced the stones of the courtyard upwards as he did so, blocking another jet of flame.

They were very close to the inner rings of the school, large decorative pillars that had massive rails atop them so they almost looked like a fence for the academy. But that was paid little mind as Cinder lazily sent another gust of burning fire towards him, there was little Ozpin could do since he was still halfway through dodging her previous attack.

Even as he sailed through the air the headmaster defended himself though; he swung his glowing cane before him and a gust of powerful wind blew the fire away, even as his back thumped against the stone pillar behind him.

As soon as his feet hit the ground he was moving, in an instant Ozpin swung around the decorative pillar to avoid yet another burst of fire. The heat parted over the stone into a massive V shape but the stone was melting away extremely quickly.

Supreme calm dominated his mind as Ozpin spun around and struck the pillar with his cane with all his dwindling might. What remained of the pillar rocketed towards his attacker, and for a moment he was sure his attack had made contact.

But he was wrong, faster than he could comprehend Cinder appeared to his right with a massive plume of fire heading in his direction.

He hardly had any time to react, in a desperate attempt to defend himself the elder man swung his cane outwards. The flame seared across his arm and cane as he was blasted backwards, the burning heat charred his arm but was quickly deflected to the best of his ability. His formerly pristine, if sodden suit was destroyed, the entire right side burnt away to show his wizened upper body, mostly unharmed.

He was blasted backwards and crashed into another pillar, a cry of pain escaping his lips as his spine slammed painfully against the stone.

The headmaster slumped to the ground, his aura half gone from the single blow.

But as he rose to his feet less than a second later, Cinder appeared before him and lazily sent another gust of flame to his face.

He lashed out with his cane; the flames deflected outwards, but she was relentless and sent another gust of flame towards him lazily.

Ozpin leapt backwards, away from the burning heat and back into the cool rain.

"You can't win this Ozpin!" she cried as she flicked another massive burst of fire towards the slightly older man.

He leapt to the side, swinging his cane out and sending a massive boulder towards the woman. "Please Ashlynn!" he panted, thoroughly exhausted from fighting at such a high level. "I'm sorry! I am so sorry! But we don't need to do this! They wouldn't want this!"

Another violent gust of fire was lazily swatted towards him. "They wouldn't have wanted to die either Oz!" she yelled, slipping into old habits and calling him Oz.

He swung his cane and a wall of ice formed in front of him to block the fire. "It wasn't like that! I had to do it! Either they died or we all died!"

A howl of pure rage escaped Cinder's lips, and faster than he could follow she sent another gust of flames towards him. This time she wasn't playing around however, the fires far far stronger and more powerful.

Ozpin was blasted backwards almost a hundred metres. He tumbled through dozens of walls and through the school, but almost instantly he was through the other side of the building and in the rain again.

Cinder was on him again in an instant, grasping the aged man by the throat as her burning eyes stared into his soul. "THEY WERE OUR CHILDREN OZPIN! EMERALD AND MERCURY! BOTH OF THEM! AND YOU LEFT US TO DIE!" she screamed into his face. "AND FOR WHAT? FAME?! GLORY?!"

Ozpin choked, his aura utterly depleted. "I- I'm s-sorry."

She roared in utter fury, rage clouding her mind. With unnatural strength she threw the battered man back into the school, walls collapsing under the force of her throw.

Despite the pouring rain, for the first time in what felt like decades Cinder threw her head back and laughed in triumph. Finally, finally Ozpin was dead! After 80 years she had finally delivered justice!

Joy coursed through her body; she had hardly expended any energy in killing her former husband. Utter elation speared through her senses, and she howled in laughter.

 _He's finally dead…_

But… something felt off… _what's that noise?_

An incessant buzzing that seemed familiar rang out, it was quiet at first but was getting steadily louder. What the hell-

"OI BITCH! REMEMBER ME!?"

The ancient woman spun around, her eyes finding the source of the voice in an instant.

Rose was standing atop a Bullhead that was currently speeding towards where Cinder stood; right at the last moment before the aircraft smashed into the ground the time-traveller jumped off. Rose sailed through the air and fired explosive shells from the worn and faded Ember Celica on her wrists.

She landed on the ground with a thump and watched as Cinder burst out of the wreckage without a single hair displaced. "Quite the entrance you made," Cinder mocked as she stepped out of the burning wreckage and back into the heavy rain. "Too bad it's going to cost you your life."

Rose smirked. In the corner of her eyes she saw RSYB minus Solus slide up next to her, the little clone of Kira also there.

"Ashlynn Ember…" the small clone said over the pounding rain. "You made me, copied me from a dead woman that had wrought such terrible destruction… But you don't control me any longer! I will fight you for my freedom! For the freedom of all those you seek to enslave!"

The other girls nodded, despite the terrible fear they all felt.

"Pretty words…" the Queen purred. "But I made you… you were created with the express purpose of killing Subject 13. You failed in that task, and now you and your pathetic 'friends' will die."

Rose stepped forwards, in her hands she held her mother's sword; the blade gleamed in the pouring rain. "You feel it, don't you?" Rose questioned, hoping to any god that was listening that her voice didn't quiver. "The darkness that has always driven your ambitions, your hate and your determination have finally consumed you." Rose paused, feeling the aura of Vale. Innocents dying by the dozens… it had to stop. "All you feel is rage, utterly blinded by your lust for blood. You're not the strong woman you once were; you're just a by-product of your own hate, envy and rage… all destroying your own sanity." Rose paused, watching the heat emanating from the elder woman's form as her anger mounted. "Your power is like wildfire, you have no control; and like wildfire you will consume everything in your path… until it dies out."

Rose smirked. "If you kill us here tonight it won't matter, someone even stronger will rise to stop you."

Cinder shook with anger, her fury pumping through her veins. "I have lived for over 130 years! I won't _die_. Not now, not ever!"

No more words were spoken. The five do-gooders charged forwards as one with their weapons drawn, ready to slice the far older woman to pieces.

But it was not to be. Ashlynn's eyes flashed with burning power, and a massive explosive wave shot outwards and sent all her attackers flying backwards.

Fire poured off her body, rage seeping from her eyes as she glared at the fallen forms of the younger women. The Queen stalked over to where Rose had fallen, half crushed under rubble and stone. "What did you expect would happen? That you would come here, and in a hail of glory defeat me?"

Cinder grasped the younger woman by the throat and held her aloft; silver eyes met blazing orange, and for a moment no words were said. The two darkened souls stared at each other under the pounding rain, one far older and stained by years of suffering and loss and the other tainted by her urge to destroy all those that wronged her. "I never expected that I would win," Rose rasped, her voice weakened by the chokehold the elder woman had her in. "I'd almost forgotten what it felt like to win a fight before coming back here…"

Cinder didn't know what the younger woman was talking about, but her patience was wearing thin. "I am a Queen, a GOD!" the gorgeous woman declared. "I can't be beaten, not by you or ANYONE!"

A small, raspy chuckle slipped from Rose's lips, "Don't you feel his power?" she asked. "I may not be the one to beat you, but he certainly will be."

"He?" Cinder chuckled mirthlessly. "Who are you-"

The elder woman dropped Rose to the ground with a thump and spun around. That power… it couldn't be…?

 **A/N**

 **Dun dun dun! This new power… it couldn't be… Zwei!?**

 **Haha just kidding. But in all seriousness you guys should tell me what you think of the fight in this chapter, I wanted to show both Ozpin and Cinder in a different light.**

 **So finally we get to the part that indirectly reveals the history of Ozpin and Cinder, married and had children back in Mountain Glenn… so Ozpin basically killed his own family. I'm interested in what you guys would have done in Ozpin's situation: would you have stayed in Mountain Glenn and let Vale burn? With the capital gone then what remained of the kingdom would have been thrown into anarchy. Or would you have done as Ozpin did? Save Vale and be hailed a hero, but in doing so you damn your family to a gruesome death.**

 **Seriously let me know, I'm curious.**

 **Let's take a look at the reviews:**

 **Inkboy:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Thanks man! I'm not exactly sure it could be described as 'fun' for the characters, but I know that I certainly enjoy writing it haha.**

 **Smithrooks:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **I expanded on how Rose arrived because I wanted to show a different side of Weiss mostly, I know I portrayed her poorly in early chapters but I wanted to show that she grew as a person quite a bit.**

 **Yeah, Rose's initial desire to run was a major thing for me. Ruby would never run from such a fight, whereas Rose pleaded for Solus to come with her... despite the fact that he was basically dead. As for when Rose 'fell' for Solus... well in truth she didn't really. While yes there is that lingering affection from what she remembers of Beacon the main reason she kissed him was more akin to an acknowledgement of him trying to better himself rather than a declaration of love. Given time and the right circumstances it might evolve into something like that... but we both know it won't end that way. And like you said: Emotions are confusing.**

 **Altiar234:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Thanks! I try to keep my characters interesting, but to hear that you like my Jaune better than the cannon one? You nearly made me blush haha.**

 **Julini:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Who ever said he wasn't going to get the upgrade? I said said it wouldn't help much… on its own anyway. Hint hint.**

* * *

 **Remember to leave a review!**


	46. The Edge of Life

Edge of Life

Chapter Forty Five

Beta: Smithrooks

The Edge of Life

 **The Director's facility**

The AI version of the Director had split himself; half of his runtimes were now dedicated to Subject 13's procedure. His creation had taken quite the beating at the hands of Cinder, Braun was only 83% sure that the rebellious subject would survive the operation. But 83% was more than enough. Cinder had ruined Braun's life… and even in death Stanis Braun was nothing if not spiteful.

13 had been annihilated in one blow, if it could even be called a blow and not Cinder's attempt to tickle. The machines under the intelligence's control quickly cut open the chest of the unconscious subject, revealing all the shattered bones as well as the burnt organs. Normally they would be more careful... but time was of the essence. Long, spindly mechanical arms plucked away what remained of the rib cage; the lungs were charred and bleeding messily, and the heart was struggling out feeble beats with the aid of the critically damaged pacemaker. But all of that was irrelevant.

A moment later another arm stabbed a long needle into the weakly beating heart, then in less than a second the powerful muscle died; blood was no longer pumping and the subject was dead. Long hoses attached to the dead heart, and with a wet slurping sound all the blood was quickly drained and stored. Phase one complete.

Machines buzzed around the fresh corpse and plucked out the ruined organs and bones. Soon all that remained was the skull, spine and brain; the single blue eye that was salvaged was promptly cut open and hollowed out so the prosthetic could sit inside. One by one, the vertebrae were replaced with an extremely dense tungsten/osmium alloy facsimile; the jelly-like disks were flooded with nano-machines that hardened the substance to withstand the extreme weight.

Gradually, the AI-guided metal arms worked their way up to the skull and brain of the corpse; the single remaining bone was quickly cut away in chunks not dissimilar to that of a newborn's fragmented skull, and then replaced with the same alloy as the spine. The brain was treated with the utmost care as the machines attached several metal devices to the fragile grey matter.

The blue eye that was salvaged was connected to the now enhanced brain, the red optical sensor underneath covered by the original eye; the subject would want to retain _some_ of his original physical appearance after all. The second eye was attached a moment later, although since they lacked the original specimen to cover the sensor with a fake rubber eye was grafted over the sensor; the synthetic colour would shine through however, and the subject would be forever bound to having mismatched eyes.

The empty places the heart, lungs and other vital organs had once occupied were then filled with more efficient replacements. He now had the ability to hold his breath for over an hour; his heart, though still inactive, would be able to sustain him and his soon to be hulking body. The subject would be able to go over six months without food or water, and hold such an extreme tolerance to poison and other chemicals that he could chug the juice of Nightshade berries with only mild discomfort.

Soon the limbs were replaced with the dense metal alloy, and the skin suitably expanded to accommodate for the large increase in subject size. Robotic muscles and compressors were added at every conceivable location to bulk up the strength of the subject; if he so wished, the subject could now arm wrestle against an Atlesian paladin using only a single finger… and win.

Aura amplification devices inserted at strategic locations throughout the body would bolster his already substantial reserves tenfold, as well as improving his control over his 'soul' almost a hundred times over.

Skin was welded back together as the last stages of the operation were drawing to a close; all that remained now was for blood to be pumped back into the body, and then they could restore the lifeless husk into the poor excuse for a person.

Long, thin tubes were attached to the body at all the easily accessible arteries and veins, then within moments thick red blood was pumped back into the corpse; the blood had been altered however, it was now filled with nano-machines that would aid in bodily repair and many other miscellaneous functions.

The thin spindly arms that had performed the operation were quickly pulled back as the table rose to a standing position. The subject's now 7'3 frame was still confined to the table, but in a moment that would change.

Whispered commands of his creator spurred Subject 13's new heart to life, nanite-filled blood pumping around the massive frame as life began to burn through its unnatural body.

 _Awaken_

The subject awoke with a gasp, newly enhanced aura spurring to life in an instant and with hardly a thought he broke free of his restraints.

* * *

So with half his runtimes dedicated to ensuring that 13 survived, the Director turned his attention to other matters; namely _how_ he planned on getting his just revenge on the elder woman. If 13 survived and was functional once again then he would no doubt run off to try and fight her; even with all the upgrades however, there was only a 0.00002% chance of success. So the AI had decided to even the odds a bit; if 13 himself couldn't be improved further, then what else could? His armour and arsenal of course.

Before now, the Director had never really helped 13 or 8 after they aided in his death; he was still slightly annoyed about that. So as a result, both his errant subjects had learnt to make and repair things on their own; while neither subject had ever been _bad_ at science and technology, the Director was simply better than them. They were created for killing; a knife may be used to pick a lock, but it will never be as good as a key after all.

So the Director looked over the design schematics for 13's 'Minotaur' armour. The first variant of the armour was created by Mistral and was called the ' _T-45 MK-II_ '; the armour then went on be upgraded over the years by 13 in his bumbling attempts to get more power, eventually culminating in what 13 had dubbed the ' _T-60 MK.V_ '. The Director could honestly say the improvements weren't _bad_ , but they just weren't up to Braun's own standards of excellence.

So with that in his artificial mind, the AI split off a dozen more runtimes to improve the armour. Make it more durable, faster, powerful… and he supposed he could keep the minotaur design too. If 13 was going to die, he might as well do it in style.

The rest of the AI focused his attentions on weapons. It was all well and good being able to not be turned to paste in one blow, but 13 would need to be able to cause some damage too…

Perhaps Venom would be the answer to the main problem. If injectable canisters of pure Venom were added to the suit, then that coupled with the raw power of the upgrades and the armour… 13 could become quite powerful indeed.

 _But will it be enough?_ The AI questioned itself silently. More calculations were processed; more data was burnt away in the search for the answer.

 _It will have to do_.

* * *

Solus staggered off the table, the world spinning around him. Information crashed through his brain at incredible speeds that he knew should have driven any normal person insane within moments.

But he wasn't normal anymore.

Power unlike anything the merc had ever felt washed through his system. His aura felt almost 50 times stronger, no doubt a result of the numerous amps placed within his 'new' body. His eyesight was sharp and clearly defined, dual vision gracing him for the first time since he had lost his eye originally. Aches and pains from injuries years past had vanished, replaced by a crushing strength and clarity of thought. He felt taller too; before he had only been 6'1, but now? He was about 7'3.

He perceived the world with such clarity of thought; where his mind had once been plagued with chaos and emotion, now there was… peace. The emotion was still there of course, but now it felt… distant.

"Interruption: Enough dawdling 13," The AI version of the Director commanded from nearby. "Our enemy has already made her move on Vale, you must hurry if you wish to save your friends."

Solus looked over to the Director, his single blue eye locking onto the AI while his other new eye looked past him.

"Instruction: Your avatar will inform you of all the new functions of your weapons and armour."

Solus stepped past the Director to his armour. The darkly smiling Minotaur stared back at him; it was bigger, and judging by the information that his avatar just poured into his mind, it was _far_ better too.

"Closing remarks: 13, do ensure that you kill Cinder for me," the hologram stated flatly before he winked out of existence.

Yes… Cinder would die.

He was done lying, to himself and his… friends. What was the point? He was going to die anyway, names were irrelevant now.

He would do this, he would kill Cinder. Not for himself, it hardly mattered to him now… he wouldn't do it because of the debt he still owed Summer… he wouldn't do it because the Director commanded him to. He was going to do this for the woman he had failed; for Kira, the love he had killed. And he would do it for Rose, the woman he damned; the woman who for some inconceivable reason kissed him… and he would be _damned_ before he caused her any more suffering!

He would kill Cinder, even if it meant his own end.

* * *

It was bucketing down with rain as Solus landed across the Beacon courtyard from Cinder; great chunks of the once magnificent school had been torn away and destroyed, leaving only the bloodied battlefield. As the merc landed, Cinder dropped Rose from a chokehold and turned to face him with surprise evident in her gorgeous features. "Cinder!" he cried out over the pounding rain, "This is between you and me."

In the blink of an eye she stood before him, blazing golden orbs piercing into the glowing red eyes of his helmet. "My, my, how your power has grown…" she whispered sultrily as she ran a hand down his chest plate. "Not even close to mine… but let me extend an offer to you: join me, lay waste to this decadent society and live as a king by my side."

Solus smirked sadly under his mask; if she had asked him before he joined Beacon he might have taken her up on that offer...

But not now.

Now, she had to die.

"We need not fight," she purred, eyes dancing with promises of power.

"Sure we do," his voice rasped through the suit. "You've lived too long."

In a flash he pulled a short, flat-barreled gun from his belt, the weapon extending just as he pulled the trigger. Argentum's helmet cut off all noise as an ungodly sound shot out of the gun; all glass that was within two kilometres instantly shattered and Cinder staggered backwards from the horrendous screech.

The elder woman felt something wet on her face, and it wasn't the rain. In the haze caused by the terrible sound she wiped her face with her hand, and to her surprise and utter horror a smear of blood leaked from her nose and onto her hand as well as the ground.

Rage quickly overcame her, and in a flash she was on her feet. With her left hand Cinder grabbed the gun and crushed it, slamming a punch into the armoured man's gut with her right hand. He toppled backwards until he crashed into one of the numerous metal lamps that dotted the courtyard.

"You fool!" she hissed as she appeared before him, standing over his form. "You could have ruled the world with me! You could have lived like a GOD!"

The Wanderer chuckled darkly under his helmet; he wasn't going to be lied to again. He pushed himself to his feet as he subtly unhooked a small metal cord from his belt, the wire wrapping around a nearby lamppost; within moments Subject 13 could feel extra power flowing through his suit in droves. "A god?" he questioned, "Or a SLAVE!?"

As he shouted the final word his hands shot forward and grasped onto Cinder firmly, lightning pouring out of his fingers and into her body. Aided all the more by the extra power he was drawing, lights all over the nearby city flickered and dimmed from the enormous drain. Cinder screamed in ungodly pain, her body shuddering and convulsing as he poured more power into his attack. "YOU SAY YOU'RE SOME SORT OF GOD!?" he screamed in her face. "YOU'RE NOTHING! YOU RUINED MY ENTIRE LIFE! IF NOT FOR YOU THEN I COULD HAVE BEEN AT PEACE BY NOW! I COULD HAVE BEEN WITH MY FAMILY!"

With the aid of his enhanced muscles and power armour he clamped down even harder. "AND WHAT ARE YOU?! JUST A BITTER OLD WOMAN! WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT!?"

Despite her screams of total agony, Cinder opened her eyes and let her fury show. For a moment her eyes glowed even brighter than they had before… then two burning streams of fire shot out of her eyes and scorched across the Wanderer's chest, searing through the wires that connected him to the city power grid. The lightning weakened dramatically as he sustained it under his own power and that of the suit, but she wasn't even fazed by it anymore; the energy just washed over her body like waves battering against the shore.

Before Mortem could react, a lightning fast punch shot forwards and crashed into his helmet; he was sent flying off the Beacon cliff, and if he had not gotten the upgrade and been wearing his armour he would have been turned to red paste instantly from the blow.

"I AM A QUEEN!" she roared as she watched him fall off the cliff and towards the city below. "IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU WANT! I AM YOUR GOD!"

Solus let out a terrific battle cry as one of the Director's improvements to the suit activated; jets of flame poured out of his feet and the small of his back, and he flew towards the dust-powered witch with his fist raised to smite her.

She sneered at his attempt however, and as soon as he came close to her she grabbed him and threw him with staggering strength over her shoulders and onto the ground.

He rolled as the ground shattered under his weight, and in an instant he was upon Cinder again. His armoured fist slammed into her face with a hollow sounding _bonk_ ; to his utter horror, her head only tilted back slightly as an annoyed look crossed her features.

Despite how powerful he had become, it seemed she still outclassed him.

Almost beyond his control, 13 took a step back in slight fear as she raised her hand. He was fucked…

Her hand smashed into his chest with obscene force and he was hurled backwards through the air; he was completely ragdolled as he smashed through several walls in the school, concrete and other debris smeared across his wet armour as he finally came to a stop against a circular metal door that he vaguely recalled seeing once.

A fraction of a second later Cinder stood before him again; he pulled himself out of the dented metal and glared at her under his helmet. "You cannot win," she sneered.

He didn't reply, as she wouldn't listen anyway. Ignoring the calming effect of the Director's devices in his brain, 13 roared with anger and the rocket boosters in his suit flared to life as he flew towards her. She didn't bother to block as one of his fists smashed into her throat and the other into her solar plexus.

As they rocketed forwards, they went through another dozen steel and concrete walls until they were outside once again in the pounding rain. She was hurled across the pavement but obviously unharmed; Solus put more power into the rocket boosters and flew about 50 metres in the air before letting gravity regain its dominance, smashing back into the ground where she had fallen.

Cinder nimbly rolled to her feet away from the gravity-aided stomp; the cobblestones cracked and shattered as he stomped where she had been. Within a second he turned to her, then with a rocket-aided boost sped forwards with his fist raised to bash her skull open.

Cinder was having none of it however. As soon as he came within range, she lashed out with her hand and smacked him to the ground. The pavement cracked and shattered further but she wasn't done; with a flight-aided boost she grabbed him by the legs and lifted him into the air, less than a second later he was thrown on his head with Remnant-shaking force.

The minotaur horns on his helmet snapped from the force of his landing, the twin metal spikes embedding themselves deeply into the ground.

A low groan of pain emitted through his helmet but Cinder wasn't finished, she grabbed his legs once more and began spinning him around her. Around and around she spun while holding his legs, the centrifugal force was enormous but it got even worse when she let him go. The merc was sent hurtling through the air at a speed his enhanced brain struggled to fully comprehend, but the flight ended less than a second later when he smashed through a highway and onto the ground in Vale. All this occurred in less than a second, despite the fact that Vale was roughly 15 kilometres away from Beacon.

Rain was still bucketing down as he flopped onto his back and moaned in agony. Dozens of fires burned throughout the city as students and hunters alike fought the horde of clones that were killing everything. People died by the dozens as they were either split apart by chain sickles, or blasted to pieces by shotgun boots. Screams of agony and fury rang loudly throughout the city as Mortem laid there moaning in pain.

But the short breather he had was quickly cut off.

A blink of an eye later Cinder was upon him, quite literally too. Her feet smashed into his abdomen and shattered the concrete under him as he skidded across the ground. He tried to rise, but she swung her right fist downwards to his face with thunderous force; his helmet dented inwards as he hit the pavement again.

Only a second later she raised her foot to stomp his face, but just in the nick of time he twisted his head to the side and only felt the thunderous shockwave of the attack and chunks of asphalt as they dinged against his helmet.

Solus rolled and tried to scramble away; his rocket boosters fired and for a second he thought he made it, but just before he could escape she grabbed his leg and swung him downwards to once again shatter the pavement.

As he hit the ground, he lashed out with his free leg and kicked her in the face with all his physical and semblance-aided might; her head snapped back but he doubted it really hurt her. When the blow connected however, her grip on him loosened and he shot forwards with his rockets and away from the witch.

He was at least 6 or 7 stories up when she appeared above him, and as quickly as she appeared she attacked. With her hands clasped together she landed a thunderous blow to his back that sent the Wanderer crashing through the construction site below; several dozen steel girders snapped clear in half as he sailed downwards.

The dense rain seemed to grow heavier as he smashed onto the ground, but despite the burning agony sprouting across his body and back 13 rolled to his feet and nimbly dodged the dozen or so falling metal beams that both heartless bitches gravity and Cinder sent crashing downwards towards him.

As soon as he was clear of the falling metal however, a burning jet of fire crashed into his chest and he was thrown backwards into a nearby stack of the damnable metal support beams. The formerly neat stack was thrown into disarray and the I shaped beams scattered around the wet construction yard.

In an instant Solus saw the far more powerful human rocketing towards him at insane speeds, but with less than a fraction of a second to spare he stomped hard on a girder that had been lying on the muddy ground. The side of the beam closest to Cinder shot upwards; the elder woman was unable to stop herself in time and she smashed into the metal harshly.

The metal bent easily into an n-shape under the incredible force, but Mortem wasn't done. With a howl of pain and fury, he kicked the beam once more and Cinder was thrown backwards into the air.

In the brief time he had bought for himself the Slayer of Independence turned to the nearby wrecking ball that was attached to a crane, and with absolutely no effort ripped the massive steel ball off its chain.

With yet another hate-filled scream Solus swung the massive metal ball and it crashed into his adversary; she flew into the air with only the slightest grunts of annoyance, and less than a second later she took control of her flight then shot a jet of flame at 13 faster than he could react. The flames burnt through the chain of the wrecking ball just as it swung towards her again; the Wanderer staggered at the loss of the weight, but he quickly recovered and saw the vile woman catch the chain and throw the massive metal ball towards him.

He dodged, just barely. 13 rolled in between two parked steamrollers; Cinder was rocketing towards him at insane speeds, but in a moment of quick thinking Solus grabbed the vehicles on either side of his body and swung them at her wildly. Again and again he struck her with all his might, until the metal almost completely disintegrated under her insane heat and his raw strength.

When there was naught left in his hands but crumpled metal, the attacks slowed down. To his utter horror Cinder stood, completely unharmed except for slightly ruffled hair.

 _Fuck!_ Was all his mind was able to process before her hand clamped around his faceplate in a vice grip.

A nanosecond later a thunderous blow crashed against his chest, and Solus was thrown upwards with such force that not only was his helmet utterly destroyed, but he was also sent at least a mile over the city.

Before gravity could catch up with the 'upgraded' subject, Cinder flew up to meet him and landed another thunderous blow that sent him crashing back towards Beacon. He smashed through the Emerald Tower and through Ozpin's office before crashing into the ground with pavement shattering around him.

* * *

Ruby couldn't believe it.

When Cinder had blasted her and the others back with such ease, Ruby thought they were done for. What could possibly stand against such power? They were so epically screwed that nothing could save them…

Then Argentum Mortem appeared. Ruby was honestly terrified for a moment that Mortem would join her and then the world would be even more screwed, but for whatever reason, whatever stupid thoughts he had running through his mind Mortem said no.

No.

He was going to fight her with everything he had; Ruby hadn't known why and frankly she didn't care, having someone of Mortem's power on their side was a boon that they couldn't ignore. And… even if he didn't win, Ruby would never forget that he had at least tried.

The fight had taken them into Vale and away from Beacon, but when they came back… it was a nightmare.

There was a thunderous explosion and the silver hulk of a man suddenly appeared before them once again, this time in a small crater made by his impact with the courtyard.

Only this time, he wasn't wearing his helmet.

Despite the pounding rain and biting chill in the air, Ruby saw him clearly. It was Solus, it… couldn't be true; Solus was an arse to be sure, but a mass murdering psychopath? That was too much… surely that wasn't right! Solus was Solus… he couldn't be…

And something was wrong with him too.

His hair had been shaved away and his eye patch was gone, she had seen underneath before of course. Normally there was just a patch of skin which used to be the eyelid that was fused together, but he had a new eye! It was a burning red that glowed with artificial malice even as he moaned, obvious agony in his mismatched eyes.

Most glaring of all however were the thin red lines that decorated his face in a macabre patchwork of criss-cross _surgery_ scars.

What… what had happened to him?! All this was wrong, all of it! He couldn't be Argentum Mortem! Solus wasn't evil like that man…

Right?

Ruby… wasn't sure.

* * *

Yang had been certain that they were all gonna die.

Yang had literally no skill whatsoever in sensing the aura of others… but she knew that _everyone_ could feel Cinder's aura when she had arrived at Beacon's gates. That woman… she was just too powerful, angry darkness pulsing off her in waves that seemed to batter the light out of all the assembled hunters.

But Cinder hadn't particularly cared, she had eyes only for her target: Ozpin.

Despite Yang's urging to leave and help the battle in Vale, they had stayed to watch the fight between Ozpin and Cinder. Whatever weak hope of success she had held on to up until that point had been utterly shattered when Cinder had thrown the defeated and auraless headmaster to his death through the stone halls of Beacon.

Then Mortem came.

He looked slightly different than in the simulations Solus had set up, taller and broader. His armour a slightly different shade of silver, several devices strapped to his back and belt… but he still looked like a nightmare made flesh.

When Cinder had offered that he join her…

Yang considered herself a brave woman, there were few people that she actively feared… but he was one of them. She had seen Blake fight him in the simulator, even fought him herself once… he was an absolute horror that just couldn't be beaten. Back all that up with a sadistic streak a mile wide and a penchant for causing utter chaos and destruction… he became nightmare fuel.

She had been certain that he would join her; he was an evil monster, she was an evil monster. They had a lot in common then, right?

Nope.

Mortem had been _furious_. Their battle had taken them away from the semi-ruined Beacon grounds and into the currently war torn Vale; Yang shuddered to think of the collateral damage they had caused in the city.

But then Mortem crashed back to Beacon from the sky through the main tower, and his helmet was gone.

It… it was too much. Solus Superstes was just a lie, a cover to hide who he really was. Never before had Yang felt so betrayed when she looked upon the battered and scarred face of Mortem, her teammate… she had let that monster train her sister… sleep in the same room as them.

It made her nauseous to think about it.

It couldn't be true; Solus wasn't exactly a paragon of goodness or anything, but he was better than this. She needed to speak with him, ask him what the hell was going on.

* * *

Blake had been ready to die for years, for a short time she had even wished for death…

But then she had come to Beacon. A safe haven, a place of hope and refuge for her weary soul.

She'd made friends, her teammates had become like a family to her. Together there was nothing they couldn't beat… sure there had been issues; Yang being nosey, Ruby being an annoying 15 year old and Solus generally being an ass. But they had still worked. Their team may have seemed dysfunctional from the outside, but on the inside they would go to extreme lengths to ensure each other's safety.

But even with her new 'family' Blake would never forget where she came from. The former White Fang was dead and gone… but she would always remember them. She had promised herself that she would find a way to avenge their deaths, and the best way to go about that was obvious: kill the man that had ruined them.

Kill Argentum Mortem.

If only it had been that simple; the man had disappeared for roughly two years. Almost everyone figured that he had died, caught up in the Vacuo Massacre. Then he resurfaced in Vale a few months ago, blasting through the city for no apparent reason other than to cause chaos.

Blake and everyone else from Beacon had rushed to the scene ready to put the beast of her nightmares down, but it hadn't been that simple; he had quickly retreated, leaving Blake furious at his escape.

Time had passed and she had calmed, but she had vowed to kill the beast as soon as she saw him again.

So when he appeared just in the nick of time to stop the Queen from killing Rose, she had felt a steep mixture of both hate and fear. The Queen was unstoppable, basically a god at this point; but if Mortem joined forces with her… then there was absolutely _nothing_ they could do to stop them.

But he had said no.

 _No._

Blake had seen and felt the power of Mortem on numerous occasions; if the man wanted to fight Cinder in their place, then even Blake could begrudgingly admit that he was far more likely to win than any of them.

That didn't change anything though, Blake still planned on strangling the man with his own intestines when he beat Cinder.

The fight had taken them away from Beacon and into the city, the thunderous sounds of their epic battle still audible from the hill that Beacon was fixed upon.

But then with an ear-shattering boom Mortem had crashed back into Beacon via the main tower.

Only this time, his helmet was gone.

Blake had long wondered what such a monster's face could look like; would he be a pale man, devoid of empathy and with cold eyes? Or would he look good, an angelic face to mask the demon that he really was?

Neither apparently.

Betrayal unlike anything Blake had ever felt before coursed through her body. A man she had trusted, her own _teammate_ was the monster of her nightmares. They had all known that Solus was hiding things, but this? He… it shouldn't have been possible. To her, Mortem had always been a being marred by his desire for blood and his greed for more power… but Solus was neither of those things.

Solus was rage and hurt mixed together into a concoction of sadness over some unknown tragedy he had lived through. His emotion had given him power; his rage burned hot, but died quickly. Deep melancholy seared through a tortured soul that had suffered too much… but it seems she had been wrong; Solus wasn't a good person. He never was, had all of his time at Beacon just been some cruel trick? A ploy to eventually destroy the school?

How could she have not seen this coming? The signs had all been there; Solus was open in being just some bounty hunter. He could fire aura blasts _identical_ to Mortem's. He had always known about her Faunus heritage and White Fang origins. He admitted that he had _met_ Mortem, even going so far as to say that the beast had trained him…

Why had he lied? Why had he come to Beacon? Perhaps he just enjoyed messing with people.

Blake didn't know, but she knew that the sting of this betrayal would haunt her forever.

If that… beast managed to beat Cinder, then he'd have to deal with her next.

Blake wasn't going to go down easy this time.

* * *

Solus moaned in agony as he rolled onto his back; his broken and shattered bones quickly knitted themselves back together under the aid of his nanite infested blood, but burning hot pain still seared through his body.

Idly, he noted that his team was looking at him; Yang, Ruby and Blake were looking at his face with visible expressions of horror and outrage.

Rose and little clone Kira were also there; their faces showed no surprise, just fear and worry for him.

It was nice to know that he wasn't completely abhorred.

Concrete shattered before him as Cinder appeared, her eyes blazing in victory. "What did you expect, 13? No one can beat me now; I am a _god_ ,and you are just a pathetic child that wants his mother."

The Wanderer glared at her from his position on the ground, he wasn't beaten yet; he still had one last card to play.

"Do you feel it?" the woman questioned, "the crushing feeling of your defeat? You couldn't save Vale, you couldn't save Beacon… you can't even save yourself."

"Perhaps you need more evidence of how grandly you have lost," the witch said as she began dragging him by the foot towards the cliffs. "The people of Vale are dying, but the structure survives… I will make it burn, and you will watch."

She dropped him as they overlooked the city, her eyes dancing over the war-torn landscape; people were dying in droves… but she could make it even worse.

In one swift motion both of Cinder's dainty arms rose upwards, and the small dotted flames throughout the city suddenly became burning wildfires that charred anything they touched.

The battered armour of Solus became steadily lighter as the Director's final gambit pumped into his blood, his rage mounting to even greater heights as he watched Cinder. Power that eclipsed what he held on his own pumped through his veins. He could do this now.

But that's what you get when roughly two litres of the Director's 'Venom' was pumped into you.

He had used Venom before of course, the most recent being when he had battled the Schnee power armour-clad operatives in the Ever Winter Mountains. He had only used about a drop or two then and he had still been able to effectively combat power armour, something even a full team of fully trained hunters would find near impossible.

But now… Mortem could probably lift half a continent.

But… his new heart couldn't take the strain; he would die soon.

He was on his feet in an instant, his hand clamped onto Cinder in a vice grip. The woman smirked, obviously thinking that he would be unable to hurt her.

With his free hand he landed a thunderous punch to her face; the witch was sent hurtling backwards and rocketed through the walls of the prestigious school as if they were tissue paper.

"I won't let you live!" Mortem roared after her.

Everything seemed to be going in slow motion for him, he saw Cinder pick herself up out of the rubble and wipe a smear of blood away from her nose with an astonished look on her face; astonishment quickly turned to anger however as she rocketed towards him with a feral scream of rage.

The Wanderer met her in the middle with a charge of his own; the concrete and stone shot outwards in a wave as the two titans met, and both combatants were thrown away in an ear-shattering sonic boom.

Mortem crashed through the buildings in Vale nearest to Beacon, but in less than a fraction of a second Cinder appeared before him.

The tower they were in crumpled as fire exploded outwards, but Solus was unaffected; the heat washed over him but his temporary power completely blocked out the danger.

Aided by the rocket boosters on his feet and back, Solus shot forwards and crashed into Cinder with ungodly force. Both combatants were thrown out of the collapsing tower and into the street below. Pavement shattered and cars were wrecked into a million pieces as he smashed the self-proclaimed god through the street. Finally, with a roar of fury he threw the woman through a nearby concrete parking structure.

The cement building shattered instantly under his might, huge portions evaporating into the rain due to her heat as well.

But soon Cinder was upon him again; a massive fireball shot towards him, but he dodged in the nick of time and the flames exploded harmlessly behind him.

The flames had just been a distraction however, a moment later Cinder appeared and landed a crushing punch on his face the sent him flying backwards. Solus skidded across the street with the road shattering underfoot; Cinder tried to press the attack, but as soon as she came close he ducked under her follow-up punch and landed a mighty blow to her gut that threw her into another building.

She shot outwards to attack him but Mortem was ready, as soon as she came close he swung both his hands down and smacked her to the ground. Concrete cracked and blew outwards, but the sound was negligible under the pounding rain; lightning flashed in the distance, and for a moment the war-torn city was illuminated brightly.

The second of distraction cost Solus however, as Cinder shot up and landed a brutal uppercut to his jaw that sent the armoured hulk rocketing upwards. The Wanderer soon caught himself in the air with his rocket boosters and glared at Cinder below him.

"There's only one way this ends Cinder!" he roared. "Either you die, or I do!"

She howled in madness as she flew up to meet him, but he didn't give her the chance. With the aid of gravity, Solus rocketed downwards at incredible speeds; they clashed with a mighty sonic and fiery boom that made a nearby building shatter, and both combatants were thrown away from the force.

Cinder recovered faster however; before Solus could right himself, she appeared over him and landed a bone-shattering kick that hurled him through another building.

She didn't give him a moment to recover and as the boy skidded across the pavement she viciously swung her fist downwards and smacked him to the ground. "This is justice!" she roared. "I spent EIGHTY YEARS learning how to fight! EIGHTY FUCKING YEARS PREPARING FOR MY JUSTICE! HE TOOK MY CHILDREN AWAY!" the Wanderer rose to his knees as she ranted. "AND FOR WHAT?!" she screamed with the fury only a mother could possess. "THIS DECADENT SOCIETY!" she gestured around them, the crumbling city filled with people fighting for their lives. "I HAVE LIVED TOO LONG TO DIE NOW! I AM A GOD!"

As she finished she began hovering, the effect was ruined however because her face was covered in smears of her own blood. Even her heat was faltering, the pouring rain that had been utterly incapable of touching her now soaked the woman; her clothes matted and sodden, hair ruined by the fighting.

Although he could hardly comment, since he probably looked about the same.

"You're not a god," Solus hissed to her. "You're not even human anymore!"

He rocketed forwards and pounded Cinder through a building, the towering structure crumpling inwards even as Solus raced after her. Both combatants sped through the city at an unbelievable pace, wrestling in mid air as they slammed each other into buildings and through the rain.

Finally 13 managed to break free of her iron grasp and pull back; he was on her again in an instant though. His fist slammed into her face and she shot backwards, but he quickly followed her flying form; grabbing her hair, he dragged her face through a glass tower.

She twisted and kicked him backwards through another building, a thunderous explosion of fire and stone shooting outwards as she followed him. Burning heat seared across his body and charred his face.

An agonising scream of pain came out of his mouth as he felt his aura fail to protect the right side of his face, skin burned away to show the gleaming metal bone underneath; the synthetic eye undamaged, but revealed in all its twisted red glory.

But the agony pushed him further; 13 screamed in hate and pain as he shot forwards and slammed his leg into Cinder's gut.

Obviously the Venom was waning though, as she wasn't hurled backwards and only bent over the leg with a gasp of pain. Solus didn't stop however; he swung his left hand around and landed a thunderous punch to her chin.

Cinder screamed in pain as she was launched out of the building and towards the ground. The Wanderer should have followed up, but pain speared through his heart that momentarily made him gasp for breath.

Cinder recovered quickly though, both titans glaring fiercely at each other from their positions; Cinder on the ground and Mortem in the air.

The Wanderer spat out a wad of nanite filled blood, his silver jawbone glistening in the rain. "Come on then!" he screamed. "Let's finish this!"

The elder woman screamed in primal hate and shot upward towards 13; they collided with an ear-shattering sonic boom. The buildings around them shattered into chunks that poured downwards with the rain as Cinder gripped him firmly around the neck and dragged him upwards.

The burning heat of her grasp soon became cold as they flew higher and higher, the stormy rain left behind as they rocketed past the clouds. Solus choked as he tried to inhale, but there was no air, no rain, nothing. Just the vacuum of space.

But they didn't stick around for long; as soon as Cinder let go of Mortem, she swung her hands downwards in a sickeningly powerful strike that sent him hurtling back towards Remnant. As he fell towards the planet, she sat atop his chest pounding heavy punches into his battered and maimed face.

Again and again she hit him as they re-entered the planet's atmosphere, heat searing across both of them as they picked up speed; her inhuman wails of pure rage and pain becoming audible as she pounded his face over and over again.

Agony dominated his mind, but the pain grew so much worse when he hit the ground. They crashed through what was left of the main building, and in an instant what remained of the school shattered into a million pieces.

He hit Remnant's surface with unimaginable force; his entire world shook, but Solus was unable to properly get his bearings. Cinder came free of him as they hit Remnant; she used his body as a cushion but was thrown backwards as he collided with the dirt and stone.

The landing had obviously injured her quite badly as well if the scream of utter agony was any indication, but Solus was almost too far gone to register this. After a few moments of laboured breathing from both of the combatants, Cinder was the first to make a move. 13 tried to move, but his broken body seared in red-hot agony. All he could see was the pounding rain and through the obviously cracked lenses of his eyes, five Cinders limped up to his fallen form with victory written across her now unrecognisable features.

The Wanderer tried to rise to his feet but his legs failed him, collapsing back into the mud pitifully. With what seemed like a herculean effort Solus tried to drag his broken body away from his would be killer; he was nearing a stone object of some kind that he couldn't clearly make out due to his shattered eyes when she finally caught up to him.

She flipped him over onto his back; Solus tried with all his might to kick her, but the attack was slow and sloppy. With a grunt of pain due to her wounds, Cinder grabbed the offending leg and gave it a harsh twist that ripped it out of the socket; then without mercy of any kind, she placed her foot on his hip as leverage before violently tearing the limb away.

The severed leg was just tossed away like it was trash, dumped into the muddy crater they had made with their landing.

Solus screamed in further agony as she tore his leg off; blood spurted out of the wound as he tried to crawl away again, but was stopped when his back thumped against the indistinct stone object.

His strength was gone, his aura dead. He was dying.

But Cinder wasn't content for death to claim him at its own pace, she crawled into his lap and began tearing away sections of his now ruined armour. Chunks of metal were soon removed until his chest was visible but she didn't stop, anger alight in her eyes. Cinder tore away huge pieces of his skin with her hands, until eventually his metal ribs were clearly visible as well as his frantically beating heart.

Weakly, Solus tried to stop her by swinging his left arm at her face, but she grabbed it with her bloodied hands and within moments shattered the metal bone with one well-placed strike.

Turning back to his exposed organs, Cinder plunged her hand inwards past all the artificial organs and through to his metal spine. Ignoring his anguished scream, she wrapped her fingers around his backbone then gave it one violent tug; the metal split in half cleanly and she withdrew her hand.

He moaned in utter agony, there was nothing he could do anymore; even screaming was quickly becoming too difficult.

Blood leaked out of his mouth and eyes as 13 stared at her. "The era of the four kingdoms is at an end, 'hero'," she wheezed as she glared at him with bloodied eyes. "Your metal skull will decorate my great hall for all eternity."

He didn't say anything; he wouldn't give her the satisfaction.

She raised her hand, a small ball of flame ready to burn through his innards and end his life.

"You could have been so much more…" she whispered.

He closed his eyes.

She began to lower her hand, but the flame never came near him.

Within the blink of an eye, Ozpin appeared and blocked the killing blow with his cane. Less than a second later his arm was moving as he landed a hail of strikes onto Cinder that knocked the critically injured woman away.

Even Solus could tell that Ozpin was a mess, the man's upper half was completely bare to the pounding rain and covered in deep wounds of both cuts and burns. One of his eyes was closed over with dried blood and his hands were shaking badly, but the man stood tall and proud nonetheless.

He only spared the mortally wounded form of 13 a glance before following after his old love.

The rain continued to pour down on Mortem's face as he lay there, unmoving. _Is this the end?_ He questioned to himself idly. _I'd hoped it would be sunny…_

Only a second later, three figures appeared by his side; words were shouted but he could hardly hear them. A few moments passed before he realised who the blurry figures were: Ruby, Rose and Kira.

"I'm sorry," he croaked, his chest rising and falling gently. "I've failed…"

"No!" Ruby cried at his side. "You did your best… but why didn't you tell us who you were?"

He didn't say anything, so Rose spoke for him. "Would you have said anything?" the elder woman said sadly as she ran her hand down the side of his face that remained. "He was trying to distance himself from whom he used to be."

"He did terrible things…" Kira whispered as her tears mixed with the rain. "But all that doesn't matter now…"

There was a booming explosion that Rose turned her head to; Ozpin was dying.

"I-" he wheezed, blood pooling out of his mouth and eye. "I wish I could take it all b-back… so many l-lives taken, I c-caused so much p-pain. I'm a m-monster."

Rose turned back to Solus. "Please Solus… we need you. _I_ need you!"

Young Ruby was sobbing, her hands desperately clamped onto his shoulder. "P-please d-don't go S-Solus!"

A small, croaking laugh slipped past his bloody lips, his eyes closing in resignation. "N-Not Solus. That w-was just a-another lie." His eyes opened, the natural blue contrasting sharply with the synthetic red. "The n-name i-is Jaune Arc; it's s-short, sweet, r-rolls off the tongue and l-ladies love it," a weak wheeze of laughter at his own terrible joke.

"Jaune," Ruby whispered with a weak smile, her eyes filled with tears.

Rose pressed a gentle kiss onto his bloody lips, "Jaune, I'm so, so sorry. But we need your help…"

He didn't say anything, but his eyes showed only compassion and regret. "Cinder is too powerful for us…" Rose whispered slowly as tears crept down her face. "But if we give you our aura then you can blast her away…"

Jaune, despite the deep agony he felt all over his body nodded. "Get h-her in front of me, I c-can't move."

Rose smiled weakly, then whispered, "Ozpin is already doing that. All you need is the extra power."

Without any more words spoken, the three girls pumped all their aura into Jaune; what remained of his body quickly converted the foreign energy into his own and enhanced it. For so many years he had only felt the crushing darkness that consumed his soul, stained by the atrocities that he had committed and the lives he had taken. His life and soul had been defined by one single event of his youth that had been utterly out of his control… all this had blackened his aura to the shriveled husk that he had become so accustomed to.

But now it felt different. Where before, darkness had been an omnipresent reminder of his pain and failure as an Arc, there was now a blinding light that soothed over his rough edges and calmed his weary spirit. What could have caused this? He had done nothing… unseen to Jaune, the three girls that had charged his aura looked at him with nothing but love. All those that could feel aura around the planet silently spurred him on.

* * *

General Ironwood stood at the head of his battleship that was inbound to Vale; he could feel the deadly dark power that the insanely strong enemy held. He could feel the faltering energy of the only power that seemed able to stand up to the evil, its own aura shining brightly like a beacon of hope through the darkness.

 _Don't give in_. The general pleaded silently to the light. _You can do this._

* * *

Qrow raced through Vale in a flurry of steel, decimating any of the odd clone soldiers that stood in his way. He had to get to Beacon, his nieces were there… and so was the witch that had caused this. The armoured being that had been fighting tooth and nail with the crushing darkness was faltering, its light dimming in the face of the waning darkness.

 _Come on, come on…_ Qrow begged silently. _Just a little more, just fight a little longer…_

* * *

Sun ran through the pouring rain and bloodied streets of Vale, even as he felt the burning pressure in the back of his mind caused by the intense dark energy that… woman… was outputting.

He had seen the massive battle between the two superpowers, the crushing darkness and the steadily intensifying light. He'd recognise the face of the other power anywhere; his saviour the Wanderer was fighting the blackened husk of a woman.

 _Come on man._ Sun thought desperately. _You can do this, I believe in you._

* * *

Pyrrha quickly tore through another clone, emerald-coloured hair flopping around as the girl collapsed to the ground lifelessly. The others from team PRWN were either dead or missing, Pyrrha didn't know anymore; the massive battle had separated them all into different sections of the city.

The Spartan girl had seen the face of the armoured man that fought for all their survival. She didn't know how Solus had become so powerful so quickly, but whatever he had done it had worked. All she and the others could do was hope that he could win this.

 _I believe in you Solus._ She thought to herself as she engaged another enemy male. _You can win this._

* * *

The collective people of Vale cried out for their saviour, hunters and huntresses all over the city dying in droves but still silently begging for the armoured man to destroy the vile woman that had caused this nightmare. Rain splashed down and they felt the crushing feeling of defeat pound in their veins but hope still remained, the armoured behemoth had been fighting on even terms with the witch; he could end this, he could save all of them because he was a hero.

* * *

The girls took a step away from Jaune as he glowed faintly. The energy was hardly even a pittance compared to what he'd had at his disposal before the fight, but it would be more than enough to wipe away the already critically wounded and fatigued Cinder.

Probably.

Ozpin finally collapsed, a gaping hole in his gut spilling his lifeblood onto the ground. But that was okay… he could accept his death, knowing that Cinder would not be allowed to continue herself.

Jaune raised his one good hand, a ball of glowing energy quickly forming in his palm. Cinder was facing the opposite direction, standing over the fallen form of Ozpin saying something he couldn't hear.

The ball of energy grew brighter, glorious white light shining through the twisted darkness that swirled around the surface.

 _Maybe… maybe this is my… redemption?  
_

He fired the energy. The glowing black and white beam of pure aura shot outwards and slammed into Cinder's back. The woman barely screamed, a short agonised yelp of pure torture before she felt her body begin to burn away under the attack.

Moments before her death, she raged and screamed in a vain attempt to reach out and crush the shadow that destroyed her, but she was so much less now than what she used to be. She was more than half a machine; she was like a painter gone blind, a composer gone deaf. Very distantly, she could remember the power of the light, but the dark power that she touched is only a memory. And so, with all of Cinder's world-destroying fury, only the barest wisps of flame escaped her. In the end, she was unable to touch the shadow that had ruined her.

In the end… she didn't even want to.

Ashes floated away weakly in the faltering rain. Cinder was gone.

 _Or maybe this is my punishment._

His arm thumped to the muddy ground as he felt his fake heart sputter feebly. He was done, he had finally beaten her; the woman that had turned him into the monster that killed thousands of people… she was finally gone. Maybe now he could finally be… free.

Ruby dashed up and hugged him as close as she possibly could, her eyes streaming with tears of both joy and sorrow. "Ruby," he whispered painfully. "Y-you saved me you k-know?" her teary silver eyes locked onto his own, mismatched orbs. "I w-was so lost i-in misery and p-pain I had caused m-myself… but y-you took me o-out of t-that, s-showed me t-that there was s-still beauty in the w-world."

She sobbed harder, knowing what was coming.

"B-but my t-time has p-passed Ruby." With his good hand, he wiped the tears out of her eyes, before pushing her chin upwards to make eye contact. "Thank you Ruby. F-for everything."

"No!" Ruby cried, her tears mixing with the rain. "Stay! Don't go, PLEASE!"

"R-Rose," Jaune croaked weakly. "Y-you know w-what I have to d-do."

The time traveller nodded her head slightly, tears clouding her vision, and in one swift motion grabbed Ruby by the collar and yanked her backwards, restraining her.

"NO!" the younger Ruby screamed and flailed as she tried to break free.

"I need t-to go, I-if Atlas r-recovers t-the technology in m-my body then t-there would b-be another war…"

Ruby screamed more but Jaune hardly heard her; the steady thrum of energy began to rise in his suit. "Goodbye…"

A blinding purple light seeped from his form. Within moments, the energy began to suck inwards and tear away at the prone form of Jaune. All light seemed to fold into him, and then a moment later… he was gone.

Jaune Arc had finally died.

 **A/N**

 **That was the single longest chapter I have ever written, coming just shy of 10000 words.**

 **So finally Jaune has found his peace, he wasn't a hero in the end; he was just a man doing what he thought he had to do. He slowly grew as a person throughout this story, changing from the murderous villain to just (and let's be honest here) an arse who doesn't deserve the friends he had.**

 **Was he really a savior in the end? He certainly didn't fight for the people of Vale, he cared very little about the world as a whole. But he** _ **did**_ **care about his team, he went into that fight knowing that he wouldn't survive, knowing that if he lost then all his friends would die very painful deaths.**

 **There are so many stories where some brave hero decides to give their life to save the day, and because of their sacrifice the good guys win; the survivors all cheer, and everybody lives happily ever after. But the hero never gets to see that ending, they'll never know if their sacrifice actually made a difference; they'll never know if the day was really saved. In the end they just have to have faith. Ain't that a bitch.**

 **Cinder had ruined his life, if she wasn't a factor he would have died with his family, eaten by Grimm after he passed out. She had ruined his life in her quest for revenge, and he simply returned the favour.**

 **Cinder wasn't evil, she was just human. Like Jaune, her life was defined by suffering; her own and what she caused others. What she did was wrong, but I understand why she did it. In her position I would likely have done the same. I believe that you get to a point in life where you** _ **choose**_ **your family, and if someone hurts my family… I would do anything within my power to get revenge.**

 **Will there be anymore? Yes. Next week the final chapter will be uploaded and 'Edge of Life' will be complete.**

 **All that being said, let's look at the reviews:**

 **Smithrooks** **:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Yeah, I intended for the whole Ozpin and Cinder thing to come as a shock. I feel that it helps tie her reasons together better; as well as adding a personal touch to her quest for revenge.**

 **The scene of all the students and teachers standing on the walls was actually inspired by Lord of the Rings, I liked the powerful image it portrayed; and to have Cinder tear that down so quickly really helped cement her power in the eyes of the readers.**

 **The battle between Ozpin and Cinder had been a long thing coming, I hoped to show both his power and his motivations. Ozpin has almost always been depicted as a calm if slightly senile old man, I wanted to show that behind all that is still a powerful hunter that will fight for what he thinks is right.**

 **Josh Cahoon:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Sadly it will never be quite that simple, in the heat of the moment indecision would be the greatest killer.**

 **Bubbajack:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Yeah what can I say? Grimm would be difficult to write as a main antagonist because most of them basically amount to: "Rarr I'm going to eat you." That doesn't really do much for an in depth plot does it?**

 **Personally I liken my story to all those really good zombie games and TV shows, the Grimm may be 'evil' but man is still the true monster.**

 **I also loved all those stories that made the reader feel some level of sympathy and agreement with the antagonist (in this case Cinder), because it shows a much more level playing field. I try to show my dislike for the concept of good and evil with the character back stories, take Cinder for example; what she set out to do originally isn't wrong, it's completely understandable that she'd want revenge against Ozpin.**

 **I believe that the concept of heroes an villains is reliant on perspective, from a certain point of view Cinder could even be seen as a hero; bringing justice to those that have done wrong.**

 **On the topic of power armour, yes when he first got the armour in "Shadowed Soul" it was listed as T-45 MK-II. But in "More Power" it was called T-60 MK-V, You actually brought up a very good point; when he first got the armour it was very basic, but he had time to upgrade it as he saw fit.**

 **Guest:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Perhaps, but sometimes people are faced with the choice between what is right and what is necessary.**

 **Raven kight**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Quite.**

 **Julini:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Thank you :)**

 **Hirshja:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Indeed, although the armour only helped so much.**

 **The American Wolf:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **I haven't heard from you in quite some time, although it is a welcome surprise to see your review. I can't take all the credit, without the aid of my trusty beta then my writing wouldn't even be half as good.**

* * *

 **As always please leave a review.**


	47. All Good Things

Edge of Life

Chapter Forty Six

Beta: Smithrooks

All Good Things...

Remnant:

Despite the disaster that occurred in Vale, the other kingdoms continued to play their petty political games. Mistral and Atlas were now the premier powers and for a short time the political battles remained between them, both sides continually trying to aid both Vale and Vacuo to show that they were kind and generous in a thinly veiled attempt to out do the other.

Two years after the Battle of Beacon Hill, the two countries broke out into open warfare once it was revealed that Atlas was indirectly responsible for the Vacuo Massacre by blackmailing the now defunct Schnee Dust Corporation into creating the faulty reactor, in the hopes that with the desert kingdom's leadership destroyed, they could swoop in and seize control.

How the information became widespread was never revealed to the public, although officials in Mistral knew that an unnamed woman with dark red hair and silver eyes alongside a small, black haired child with pale lavender eyes were responsible.

The devastating conflict was short but bloody, culminating in over two million deaths in just four years of war. Eventually a treaty was signed when Grimm incursions became too great, war engines died and people soon returned to their lives; scarred but alive.

Vale:

In the months following the second Battle of Beacon Hill as it came to be known, there were many funerals. The dead were buried en masse in giant mausoleums that now dotted Vale; hundreds of innocent men, women and children slaughtered by the surprise attack that had decimated the city. The hunters of Vale were slaughtered and the prestigious Beacon Academy had been destroyed.

The army that had attacked the city had died with their leader; upon feeling the death of their queen, they had all activated some kind of self-destruct in their armour. No bodies of the clones were ever recovered as they all burnt away, the ashes were condemned to the lowest pits the people could find; no mercy or sympathy was granted.

But as the months passed, the people of Vale mourned the loss of their greatest hero: Jaune Arc. He had come from the shadows of anonymity and struck down the leader of the enemy forces, only for he himself to perish in the final blow. Everyone in the city knew that were it not for the heroic efforts of the last true Arc, then Vale would have perished under the might of the clone army.

A massive, black marble statue of the saviour Jaune Arc was erected where the statue of his ancestors had once stood before Beacon. All that could be found of him was buried and preserved under the glittering marble, including his ancient family blade that had been recovered by an unknown silver-eyed woman claiming to be his closest friend.

Over time the city was rebuilt, the buildings repaired and restored to their former glory with the aid of the other kingdoms.

A new Beacon Academy rose from the ashes of the old, the magnificent Emerald Tower shining once again. The school stood before the black marble that encased all that remained of Jaune Arc, the statue standing tall with a sad look on its face. At the base of the statue, words had been carved with delicate precision:

 _Hero, Villain, Savior, Conqueror._

 _Jaune Arc was all these things and so much more. Jaune was a man that was forged in the fires of tragedy, his life defined by his suffering. Pain was his greatest friend and only constant; he believed that he was a stain to his family, a black mark on a line of heroes._

 _But when faced with the choice between what was easy and what was right, Jaune came to Vale. He had no obligation to help us, no hope of success or reward. He didn't do it because he wanted money or power, he didn't do it because he thought he could gain something from it._

 _No._

 _He fought and died for all of us because no one else could, he defeated the enemy because we were unable to. His entire life was stained by his own suffering and defeat, but now in death he has found something that he had always searched for._

 _Peace._

 _May we never forget._

It was never discovered who carved those words in, but for decades they would remain untouched.

Atlas:

The snowy mountain kingdom of the north suffered over thirty years of hate and intolerance for their actions in the second Remnant war, but eventually the anger began to fade; washed away by time and the newer generations.

Mistral:

Although devastated by the war with Atlas, the kingdom of the east gradually recovered what was lost, and soon became what it used to be before all the fighting.

Vacuo:

The western desert kingdom stayed out of the war for the most part, only sending supplies to Mistral. Over the course of decades Vacuo eventually regained what was lost, ever so slowly creeping back across the land that was lost to the failed reactor, becoming known once again for producing the hardiest of men and women in the world.

Professors of Beacon:

Glynda Goodwitch:

Professor Goodwitch survived the battle, and later returned to Beacon to become the new headmistress of the rebuilt school. Although she would run the academy successfully for the next 40 years, she would never forget all the students that died on that rainy day of battle. Each and every name was forever burned into her memory, as well as listed on a huge stone tablet within the school itself.

Glynda died aged 113, passing away peacefully in her sleep.

Bartholomew Oobleck:

The green-haired professor survived the second Battle of Beacon, only to die a few short years later in the second Remnant war. The man died as he lived, preaching history and knowledge to any who would listen. An aerial bombardment devastated the small village he had been staying in; his body was never recovered.

His prized thermos was entombed in Vale in his honour; he died aged 38.

Peter Port:

Professor Port did not live to see the end of the Battle of Beacon; he died protecting the Valean council from certain demise at the hands of over thirty clones.

For decades, witnesses would recount the story of how the elderly man had charged into battle with a cry of "I AM PETER FUCKING PORT HAHA!"

His body was recovered, bloodied and broken but surrounded by a field of decimated corpses. His body was burned as per his wishes, and then scattered into the ocean. He died aged 82.

Ozpin:

Professor Ozpin died at the hands his former wife Ashlynn Ember. His remains were entombed next to those of General Violet Arc in Vale, his cane buried with him. He died aged 134.

Hunters:

James Ironwood:

General Ironwood was the sole figure in Atlas that was totally against the war; upon its inception he and his most trusted subordinates defected to Mistral, only to be gunned down upon arrival.

The legacy of the general was one of betrayal and later tragedy.

He died aged 78.

Qrow Branwen:

Although terribly saddened by the loss of his oldest surviving friend in the form of Ozpin, Qrow was overjoyed to find his nieces had survived mostly unscathed. After the battle, Qrow quit his job as a teacher at Signal Academy so he could spend more time with his family; although he always continued his life as a huntsman, right up until he was 128 and he simply never returned from a mission.

Sun Wukong:

The golden monkey Faunus became a successful hunter in his own right, although his name never came close to matching the weight and prestige of more notable hunters like Yang or Ruby.

Sun started a small family and had two children before his passing at age 76.

Android 17 - Penny:

Penny was used, and later destroyed in the war. Part of the treaty between Mistral and Atlas stipulated that no synthetic abominations such as her will be created ever again; a person's aura will remain their own, regardless of the type of life they have led.

Team CRDL:

Cardin Winchester and his team all perished in the battle of Beacon. The last person to see them claimed the team had been in one of the many buildings that were annihilated by the battle between Jaune Arc and Cinder Fall.

Their bodies were never recovered; all died aged 17.

Team CFVY:

Coco Adel survived the battle with grave injuries, but ultimately lived a long and full life until she passed away peacefully in her sleep aged 101.

She married her partner Fox and had one child with him; the boy would later go on to be a hunter like his parents before him.

Fox Alistair survived the battle and married his partner. He fathered a single child, but was unable to live to see the boy grow to be a man because he was killed on a routine mission gone wrong aged 34.

Velvet Scarlatina died during the battle protecting her leader and friend. Her body was later dragged out of the mud and grime by Coco, who refused the death of her friend and repeated CPR for hours despite the simple fact that Velvet was dead. She was 18.

Yatsuhashi Daichi survived the battle only to die later in the war; his body was never recovered as Grimm had found and devoured him long before help could arrive. His orange great sword was given to Fox and Coco; he died aged 22.

Team PRWN:

Pyrrha Nikos survived the Battle of Beacon and returned to attend to renewed school the following year. When the war broke out, she was requested to return to Mistral so she could fight alongside her countrymen. She promptly refused to leave Vale, and decided to stay within the kingdom fighting Grimm only; swearing that her weapons would only be used to take the lives of dark creatures, not people.

She never married and lived an extremely solitary life, from time to time she would meet with her friends Nora and Ren to discuss their youth but beyond that she remained alone.

She died peacefully in her sleep aged 112, alone in her house. Her body was cremated and scattered to the winds as per her will.

Ren and Nora survived the battle and re-enrolled in Beacon the following year. Under the leadership of Pyrrha, they became extremely successful hunters but they later discontinued their life of adventure to start a family. Together they had four children, each leading vastly different lives. Ren and Nora died peacefully in their sleep on the exact same night; both were aged 104 and were in a house filled with children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Their bodies were buried together outside of Vale, left to forever admire the beauty of nature.

Weiss was not at Vale during the battle, having left for Atlas shortly beforehand due to the unexpected death of her father. For a time, Weiss tried to control the SDC but after four years of disjointed leadership Weiss was found dead in her bedroom of chemical overdose; she had committed suicide aged 21. The SDC was broken up by various different people, the remnants of the massive business surviving for decades to come.

Team RSYB:

Rose was left without purpose or direction for the first time in her life after the 'death' of Jaune. Her life's work was complete and as a result she, and the clone of Kira who was equally as unfulfilled, spent the next two years wandering Remnant. For the most part they didn't interfere with events, although at the urging of Ruby and Yang Rose eventually submitted the information about the reactor to Mistral, and just as Rose predicted to her younger self and sister the world erupted into a bloody war.

Shortly after the war began however Rose and Kira vanished, the only evidence of their passing being a short message to Ruby that detailed a "Discovery" and a "solution, a chance to right past wrongs." Rose and Kira were never seen or heard from again.

Ruby Rose lived a long and successful life after the Battle of Beacon, both she and Yang with the unwitting aid of Qrow managed to keep information of Jaune's past hidden from the general public. Ruby and Yang were shown the Director's facility by the AI of Jaune who confirmed that "he is no longer here." Although she had at first been greatly disappointed by her partner's actions and life, she soon accepted that he was a victim of circumstance and while he did commit terrible crimes, the real tragedy was that his story would never be told or remembered by anyone other than herself, Yang and the numerous AI. When Ruby and Yang left the facility they detonated a bomb that destroyed the entire base, and along with it all the nightmares that had occurred within its steel walls. But they did not leave empty handed; they took with them the AI of Jaune. The computer program stayed with the sisters for the rest of their lives until after their deaths, where he became a permanent fixture of Beacon, simply known as 'Alpha' by the students.

Ruby married a kind Mistralian civilian man and had two children; she named her son Jaune in honour of her first partner. Something his AI would cringe at, honoured but still hoping that the boy received a better life than what he had.

Ruby would later go on to become an extremely successful huntress, and when she was older she even became the headmistress of Beacon up until her death. She died comfortably in her office chair aged 142, a small quiet funeral was held and she was buried next to her husband who had died years prior.

Yang, like her sister, became a powerful huntress, becoming something of a legend within the hunter community for her sheer power and skill. Her greatest feat of power was moments before her death; to protect a village from a volcano, she carved massive trenches over twenty metres deep and forty across with naught but the swing of her fists. The village was saved, but Yang was consumed by the fire. She died aged 102 and had three children.

Blake was enraged by the forgiveness that both Ruby and Yang showed to Jaune, she was further angered by the people hailing him as a hero. When Ruby and Yang suppressed the information that Jaune was Argentum Mortem, Blake tried to convince people of his true identity but failed in light of the people's overwhelming support of their saviour.

Blake parted with Yang and Ruby on poor terms, never to speak to either sister again due to the perceived betrayal despite the numerous attempts the sisters made to contact her. Blake never learnt the full truth of Jaune's history, only seeing him as the monster that had killed her family and destroyed the White Fang.

Blake died aged 26 in Mistral, trying to find proof to show the world of Jaune's identity as Argentum Mortem.

Solus Superstes was never heard from again; it was assumed that he died in Vale, although his body was never recovered. His name was inscribed on the stone tablet within Beacon that held all the names of those that died during the battle.

Team SSSN (future timeline):

Sun died with the rest of his team in Vacuo at the hands of Sigma, their bodies were never recovered. All were aged 18.

Team PRWN (future timeline):

Ren and Nora were killed by Omega shortly after his 'birth' in Atlas; their bodies were destroyed in an aura blast and thus never recovered. Both died aged 18.

Weiss was maimed by Omega shortly after his 'birth'; she survived and went on to be an extremely influential figure in what remained of society. If not for her actions and leadership after the death of both Alpha and Cinder, then mankind would have perished trying to fight an unwinnable battle against the Grimm. She was the founder, and later indirect destroyer of the last human settlement called Sanctuary; she was also the mind behind creating the Attero device that sent her companion Ruby Rose back in time to avert the disasters that had led to the bleak condition of the world. Weiss died to the Grimm moments after Ruby had been sent back, she was 28 at the time.

Pyrrha Nikos was in the city of Vacuo when Sigma destroyed the city, her body was disintegrated and no remains could be recovered. She was 18.

Shirou Schnee (future timeline):

Shirou Schnee died at the hands of Omega, aged 52.

Cinder Fall (future timeline):

Cinder Fall came out of nowhere and attacked Vale when it already faced its destruction at the hands of the fragments, but she was ultimately destroyed at the hands of Alpha in a suicide explosion. She died aged 144.

Ozpin (future timeline):

Ozpin died fighting alongside all his fellow professors against the fragments in the protection of Vale, he was 144 years old.

James Ironwood (future timeline):

Died in Atlas battling against the fragments, he was 77.

Blake (future timeline):

Blake died in Mistral in a vain attempt to help fight the fragments, her corpse was later recovered by Rose and her weapon Gambol Shroud taken as a keepsake. Blake was 19.

Yang (future timeline):

Yang died in the Battle of Vale, caught in the crossfire between Alpha and Cinder during their fight. She was 25.

Clone Kira (future timeline):

Upon her completion the clone was presented to Cinder Fall, the elder woman wishing to determine if the clone specimen was a viable option for her clone army. The clone was found to be wanting, and promptly destroyed.

Jaune Arc (future timeline):

Driven utterly insane by the torture inflicted upon him by Shirou Schnee, Jaune spent the next 10 years on a murderous rampage across all the kingdoms. His mind shattered into different fragments, each unique to a single emotion or attribute. Each fragment was utterly consumed by their desire for revenge, utterly set on destroying all those that had, or could, wrong him in some way.

Eventually, the fragments combined briefly to form the Alpha fragment; he died in a massive suicide bomb to kill the only person to ever match his power: Cinder Fall.

His equally insane AI would later go on to be the constant companion of Rose, his insane gibbering a constant reminder of what could happen if she failed. The AI vanished alongside Rose and Kira when they disappeared.

He was 25 at the time of death.

Cinder Fall:

The 'Queen' as she called herself died at the hands of Jaune Arc in the Battle of Beacon Hill, disintegrated by an aura blast. Her legacy would stretch throughout history, despite how little information anyone had to offer about her; any explanation of the woman died with Ozpin. History would always remember the woman as shockingly powerful, with dangerously loose moral standards. For decades she would be used as an example of power corrupting, over time forming the phrase "absolute power corrupts absolutely."

She died aged 134.

Ashlynn Ember:

The woman that would become Cinder Fall, she had been a great many things; a mother, a wife, a kind-hearted woman. Ashlynn's single most defining feature however was her love for her children; despite the fact that only Mercury was truly hers and Emerald was adopted, she loved them both with the intensity only a mother could have. Ashlynn married her childhood friend Ozpin, and together they lived a happy life in their home city of Mountain Glenn, Ozpin pursuing his career as a military Hunter and her living as a semi-wealthy politician.

The dream life they had came crashing down during the onset of the Faunus wars; for the most part, she kept out of the conflict and kept her beloved husband within the city. But when the war was won in favour of the humans and the crushed faunus launched a last ditch attack on Vale, Ozpin left the despairing mountain city with the entirety of its defence force to go defend the capital.

Grimm had poured into the defenceless city like a plague and killed the inhabitants within hours, including Ashlynn's children - both of whom had only been 18 at the time.

Officially, Ashlynn Ember died with her family that day aged 54.

Although this was not the case. Enraged by her husband's actions which had led to the city's destruction, Ashlynn vowed bloody revenge, completely uncaring to the fact that he was a powerful hunter and she was not a fighter in any sense of the word. Over a great deal of time she rose in power, constructing several massive underground facilities to house thousands of clones of her beloved children. Gradually the woman began to lose her sanity; she preserved her appearance and life through Dust-based rituals which lent her temporary power. As her mind began to unravel due to both the Dust used to preserve her and constantly seeing the faces of her dead children on the clones, she grew obsessed with the idea of becoming a god.

As time passed Ashlynn began to find her name a hindrance, a flimsy connection to her past life which she sought to destroy. Taking on the Name of 'Cinder Fall', she set the final stages of her plans in motion as she blackmailed Stanis Braun into her service.

The only people to know her true identity at the time of her death were her former husband, Rose, and Jaune.

Mercury:

The original Mercury was a happy and carefree boy. The only biological child of Ashlynn Ember, he loved his sister dearly despite the lack of blood relation and the two shared a close bond.

Mercury had wished to become a hunter like his father, but was robbed of the chance when Mountain Glenn fell. He died aged 18.

Several thousand clones were made of Mercury over the next eighty years, each becoming less like the original in both appearance and attitude. By the time of the second Battle of Beacon Hill, the clones shared little resemblance to the kind and relaxed boy that died almost a century earlier, each clone distorting what the boy had been.

Emerald:

Emerald was born to unknown parents, but was saved from the street as a small child by Ashlynn and Ozpin. She grew up very loved, and shared a special bond with her 'brother' for many years.

Emerald had wished to become a mother, always wanting to have children and have a large happy family. She was robbed of this dream when Mountain Glenn fell; she died aged 18.

Several thousand clones of Emerald were made over the next eighty years, each becoming a perversion of what the original had been. The clones became darker and further away from the original, and in the end nothing about the dark reflections matched the kind and warm girl that had died almost a century prior.

Adam Taurus:

Adam was widely known as the man who took charge of the White Fang after the slaughter of Fort Independence. History would recall him to be a terrorist and a vile villain, although those that knew him personally would describe Adam as being a tragic man that had lost much in his life.

Adam died at the hands of Argentum Mortem in the Jade Jungle of Mistral; his head was later gifted to the SDC. Adam was 38 at the time of his death.

Roman Torchwick:

Roman was a survivor through and through, he had spent years as a master criminal and thief only to be killed by an enraged Solus shortly before the last confirmed sighting of Argentum Mortem. Roman's body was recovered by authorities and given little respect, the bloody corpse was cremated then the ashes were dumped into the sea. His history wasn't deeply looked into, and his name was forgotten in the wake of more notable figures that lived in his time. Although his exact age was unknown, it is generally assumed he was in his 40's or 50's due to the fact he had been active for over 30 years.

Neopolitan:

Similar to Torchwick, almost nothing was ever known of the criminal that went by 'Neo'. Her body was recovered alongside his and disposed of in the same manner; her age was unknown but was assumed to be under 30.

Shirou Schnee:

Shirou was a successful and intelligent business man, bringing what had been a corner store owned by his father into a worldwide mega corporation that had almost complete monopoly on Dust. After the death of his father, Shirou spent the next few years in relative peace before being blackmailed by the Atlesian government into constructing the faulty reactor.

After the reactor exploded, Shirou's wife and eldest daughter were killed by Argentum Mortem in a fit of rage at the perceived act of mass genocide. Shirou took his sole surviving daughter into hiding with him for the next two years, slowly becoming consumed by his desire to get revenge on Argentum for his crimes.

Eventually his plans came to a head when he captured Mortem (then Solus) and began torturing him in the name of justice. Shortly afterwards Shirou was killed at the hands of Rose, he died aged 51. His body was never located by the government, left to slowly rot away in the icy cold of the northernmost areas of Atlas.

Stanis Braun (The Director):

History would forever remember Stanis Braun as an extremely intelligent man; he had spent decades of his life developing cybernetic enhancements and prosthetic limbs for hunters, only to disappear from public view aged 89.

As was later discovered by Ruby and Yang, Braun had been taken by Cinder. Under the threat that she would hurt his family, the 'Director' as he would come to be known conducted terrible experiments on orphaned children just so Cinder could have more unique and powerful soldiers.

Stanis died at the hands a special hunter task force led by Summer Rose, he was 98 at the time of death. His AI was condemned to his secret facility for another decade before the base was destroyed by Ruby and Yang.

Argentum Mortem:

The legend of the silver death known as Argentum Mortem eventually faded into obscurity once more; the last reported sighting was in Vale when he killed two hunters, maimed another and brought Qrow Branwen to his knees. It was generally assumed that Mortem died because of some unknown hunter in a mighty battle, one popular theory even stated that before the Battle of Beacon Jaune Arc found and defeated Mortem in a showing of righteous justice. Everyone ignored the ramblings of the deranged black-haired girl that claimed Jaune _was_ Mortem.

Eventually, Mortem's name became nothing more than a tale used to scare children into obedience.

The Lonely Wanderer:

No one was a hundred percent sure exactly who the Wanderer was, but everyone knew him to be a hero. Slightly batty and questionably sane, but a hero nonetheless. Eventually he became something of a legend in Vacuo, a noble spirit to help in times of trouble.

Even a century later, stories of the Wanderer are told across the desert, people claiming to have seen a solitary figure on the horizon.

Subject 13B:

Although few knew his name, 13 was regarded as an extremely skilled assassin just prior to the rise of Argentum Mortem. All traces of the boy disappeared and he was never heard from again; all those that knew of him assumed his death.

The Red Lady:

The Red Lady was never quite as notable as Argentum Mortem, as she lacked his flair for the dramatic. Regardless of that, she was still quite well known and people whispered her name only in the darkest corners of the world; afraid that she would appear once more like Mortem had in Vale. Her reputation denoted her to be an _extremely_ powerful woman who had no issue causing mass destruction, but like Mortem her name eventually faded into obscurity and became little more than a warning tale to naughty children.

What the public didn't know was that the Red Lady was actually called Kira. She lived a twisted and tragic life, all that she could have been wiped away by the machinations of Cinder and the Director. Her body torn away and reformed by the 'upgrade' and her soul darkened by years of hatred poured on her, the only bright spot in Kira's life was her love for her fellow subject Jaune, or as he was known at the time, Argentum Mortem.

Kira died aged 18 in Vacuo, caught in the radioactive fires of the reactor and burnt alive. Her AI was bound in the Director's facility until it was destroyed by Ruby and Yang.

Clone Kira:

After the apparent death of Jaune, the clone was at a loss of what to do. For a time she traveled with Rose, following the older woman for just over two years before vanishing without a trace, never to be seen again.

The Arc family:

The family had been thought extinct ever since the day of black sun, each remaining member slaughtered by Grimm as they swarmed all the outlying towns and villages. The brief return of Jaune Arc thrusted the family's reputation back into the eyes of the public, although the family line was dead; Jaune Arc was the last confirmed member.

John and Jane Arc died to the Grimm alongside one of their daughters. Their other daughter died at the hands of Subject 13 in the Director's facility, her name forgotten and replaced simply with Subject 14.

Jaune Arc:

The name of Jaune Arc became almost synonymous with the word 'hero' for a short time, but eventually his legacy would fade as time wore on and he was regarded as a hero on par with legendary figures such as his ancestors Julius Arc and Violet Arc.

Aside from Ruby, Yang, Rose and Kira no one ever discovered the full truth of his past. Those four that did know thought of him as a tragic figure, proof that even the purest light of a child can be marred by the harshness of the world around them.

As for what exactly happened to Jaune after his battle suit activated its self-destruct is something of a mystery. Ruby and Yang were saddened, but accepted his death. Rose and Kira however did not, adamant that he could still be alive despite the fact that his AI continually stated that he was "no longer here."

Regardless of his former friends' opinions of his demise, Jaune was gone, off to the next great adventure.

 **A/N**

 **So ends the Edge of Life.**

 **This story started as just a dream, not to sound cliche but it actually did. One night I went to bed and dreamed out the basic premise for this story, although admittedly not in so much detail. Jaune from canon was something of a blank canvas to play with so I thought 'hey, why not?'.**

 **Much of what I wrote was also inspired by music: "Quiet's theme" gave me the concept of how Jaune died, his aura becoming brighter. The Lonely Wanderer business was heavily influenced by "Nuclear" by Mike Oldfield and "Anakin's Dark Deeds" by John Williams. Argentum Mortem was inspired by "You know My Name" by Chris Cornell and Painted Smile (I've got no idea who wrote this song…). Finally Solus was inspired by "Moonlight Sonata" by Ludwig van Beethoven.**

 **The original plot (which I scrapped due to it being rather sucky in my opinion) was actually extremely different, Jaune and Rose were originally going to be trapped in the future timeline for about two weeks; forcing the others to deal with Cinder alone. Also the future version of Clone Kira was going to get to the past… but that too was scrapped. Also Argentum Mortem and Solus were going to be different people, Mortem being another Subject from the Director that had escaped and later killed Kira out of revenge for some unspecified act Solus committed; obviously this was scrapped in favour of Jaune being Mortem.**

 **Honestly this story had its ups and downs. Getting reviews was always a struggle, although I can partly attribute that to poor writing in earlier chapters (something I will correct soon.) I also struggled to gain attention for this story simply because when I first started writing the RWBY archive was filled with stories that were mostly just mirrors of cannon, all light hearted stuff that played fast and loose with reality and human nature. But in the end I am… content. There were things I could have done better, things I am very proud of, but I think for a first story it isn't bad.**

 **I think we should all thank Smithrooks for being my Beta from 'Subjective Morality' onwards (any and all mistakes prior to that are all on me). Without his aid this story wouldn't have ended on such a high note for my writing skills.**

 **Pretty soon I'm going to start backtracking and correcting every mistake I can find in chapters prior to Smithrooks becoming my Beta. None of the earlier chapters will ever be as good as the later ones, but they won't be so difficult to read anymore.**

 **Any questions you might have feel free to ask me via PM or review, I'm always happy to answer anything anyone has to say.**

 **Let's take a look at the reviews for the last time:**

 **Saberfang Orcalodon:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **That is just life I fear, sometimes things don't always work out in the end.**

 **Le MAO XVII:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **So ends the life of Jaune Arc. He was many things in his life, but in the end he died content. He had made peace with himself for all his sins and did what he had to do in the end. Was he a villain? Was he a hero? I suppose that depends on who you asked, but at least he died as Jaune; and not just another empty name he had chosen for himself.**

 **Bubbajack:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Jaune died doing what he thought he had to do, he was never a hero. If it had been any other situation, anyone else in danger... he would have done nothing. But he was spurred on by Rose, knowing that he had failed her in her own timeline he finally completed his debt to Summer. He finally found it within himself to accept the past and move on, he was done using the empty titles he had used for years, he finally accepted all his sins and moved forwards.**

 **Jaune didn't care for the people of Vale, instead he fought for his team. And thanks to his sacrifice they lived on, continuing their lives when things could have been so much worse. They may not have been family, but they saw themselves as his friends (however loosely). The final fate and story of every other character will be shown in the final chapter, their ends may not all be positive; but everyone's lives were changed in some way from the effect Jaune had during his life.**

 **Julini:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Thank you!**

 **Hirshja:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **Actually the only things taken from the dark knight returns was the sound gun and the lightning. The rest of the fight was just me thinking up the best "shitfight" between two titan level fighters.**

 **Smithrooks:**

 **Thanks for reviewing.**

 **I wanted to show just how much the 'upgrade' would change him. He was still Jaune, but after the procedure he is forever bound to the limitations and strengths of his new body.**

 **I tried to show that the fight was on a whole other level to what was previously shown, that it was like you said "a battle between titans.". The damage that they caused throughout the city and the utter destruction of Beacon was meant to be a testament to their power, and also a show that power is corrupting and can wash away even the strongest fortress. When Cinder dragged Jaune into space that was meant to be a final blow of sorts, the last powerful attack that she could muster.**

 **I also wanted to show things from the viewpoints of others, the varying levels of horror and shock when they saw who Mortem really was; the dread they felt when Ozpin lost. Yang and Ruby were easier to write because they had never actually met Mortem during his prime, whereas Blake had. And despite his later actions Blake just couldn't let go of her hatred for Mortem; this is a fundamentally human thing to do, sad, but realistic.**

* * *

 **N** **ow onto big news… drum roll please…**

 **Really? No one? Gee fine then…**

 **After I have fixed this story up to my current standards I will begin writing two NEW stories… one of which will be the direct sequel to this. Thats right, Edge of Life is going to have a sequel! I won't further detail beyond this small gem: Rose and Kira are going to be the two of the three primary characters. Make of that what you will.**

 **The other story I plan on writing will be entirely unrelated to Edge of Life, Jaune will once again be the main character and once again he won't be the goody two shoes he is in canon. Beyond that I won't say, other than the title will be this: Wraith.**

 **Oh and just as an added extra:**

Bumblebee girl (see 'Rebirth in Darkness):

Distraught by the death of her beloved Bumblebee at the boot of Solus, the blonde girl soon went insane with grief and fled the kingdom. Her body was recovered years later, surrounded by bumblebee toys and other such paraphernalia. Several diaries were discovered, and all of them detailed her life-long quest to find her deceased Bumblebee friend. She was a black belt in martial arts at the time of her death; she died of fairy floss overdose aged 50.

 **Don't question it, it's a running joke in my family.**

* * *

 **Well it's been a pleasure, until next time I suppose.**


	48. The Sequel is out!

**Hey Guys! If you haven't already you should go check out the sequel Edge of Life: Requiem! I look forward to hearing from you all.**


End file.
